MIKE – “Pompeii” review

Here we have the 9th studio LP from Livingston, New Jersey emcee & 10k Global founder MIKE. Breaking out a decade ago off his debut mixtape Winter New York, he would continue to make a name for himself by churning out 4 more tapes as well as his previous 6 albums & 8 EPs full of amongst the finest abstract hip hop that you’ll hear within the last decade. Standouts include May God Bless Your Hustle, War in My Pen & even the Wiki collab effort Faith is a Rock entirely produced by The Alchemist. Burning Desire, Pinball, its sequel & Showbiz! have all become acclaimed for their own different reasons too & he looks to raise the stakes by having the Surf Gang produce Pompeii.

“The Fall” comes out the gate jumping over an Evilgiane beat to talk about swerving the most overseas whereas “My Worst (Rebuke)” produced by Harrison takes a more psychedelic approach instrumentally admitting that he’s gonna do everything he did at his lowest once more. “Da Bid” featuring Jadasea joins forces for a 2-parter talking about wearing their hearts on their sleeves just before “NOT 4TW” featuring Anysia Kym cloudily speaks of no longer paying attention to those copying because it ain’t for free.

An early favorite would have to be “The Pope” from the euphoric beat to the calmly delivered lyrics about staying remote leading into “Afro” him recollecting the craziness of how much love has passed. The lead single “Minty” blends plugg, trap, cloud rap, lowend & plugg taking jabs at supposed gangstas who take talents off LinkedIn just before Niontay provides my 2nd favorite guest appearance on “F.E.A.R.”, spitting hardcore verses back-to-back without the need of a hook.

“Tampering” only clocking at 73 seconds long is a shame considering that I really enjoy the plugg instrumental talking about having to interfere with a hoe while “Shutter Island” happens to be the exact same length talking about trusting lies & bloody swords over a beat that somewhat reminds me of Odd Future’s early output. “Back LA” featuring Na’Kel Smith links up so they can speak of living in danger while the 2nd & final single “Back Home” passionately talks about dismantling systems.

Earl Sweatshirt joins MIKE for “Kirkland”, saving would I personally considered to be the best feature for last to wind down the last few minutes of the album discussing keeping it simple when doing it big while “#FREE #MIKE” talks about the surprising revelation that even his haters are happy his crew’s around & not changing up on family. “Man of the Month” spends the last 3 minutes explaining that he bled for his dreams to be lived out despite the other half of it being a simple outro.

Both entries of the Pinball series & Showbiz! all contain some of MIKE’s greatest tracks like “On God” for example, but my favorite song on the latter “Belly 1” exponentially raised my expectations for Pompeii & it sure enough isn’t too far behind May God Bless Your Hustle or Burning Desire for a spot in the top 3 of his entire catalog. The Surf Gang’s production emphasizes the plugg undertones of Pinball II, additionally sprinkling hints of cloud rap & ambient plugg to reflect on the destruction of civilization as we know it.

Score: 4.5/5

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Earl Sweatshirt – “Utility” review

Brand new studio LP & the 7th altogether from Santa Monica, California emcee, producer & singer/songwriter Earl Sweatshirt. Beginning his career almost 2 decades ago using the alias Sly Tendencies as the son of Cheryl Harris & late poet Keorapetse Kgositsile, he posted a handful of tracks for a mixtape called Kitchen Cutlery on MySpace, but the tape would never be released to this day. He formed a short-lived rap trio with 2 of his friends called The Backpackerz & planned to release a mixtape together titled World Playground, but they disbanded sometime in 2009. Shortly after, he joined Odd Future & appeared on their 2nd & final mixtape Radical that May. 10 months later, he put out his only mixtape to date Earl with OF’s de facto leader Tyler, The Creator producing a bulk of it. The tape received a lot of buzz until Earl’s mother would send him to a therapeutic retreat school for at-risk boys in Samoa sometime after until February of 2012. He was then granted his own Columbia Records imprint Tan Cressida Records & released his full-length debut Doris a decade ago to critical acclaim right before I started my junior year of high school for his clever rhyme schemes & the gritty production from The Neptunes to even the RZA. He then formed the duo Hog Slaughta Boyz with OF affiliate Na’kel at the beginning of 2015 & released his sophomore album I Don’t Like Shit, I Don’t Go Outside. a couple months after. Many of which consider to be better than Doris for its darker aesthetic. Some Rap Songs not only wound up being my 2018 Album of the Year, but the bastard child of one of my all-time favorite albums: Madvillainy. Feet of Clay the year after marked a new distribution deal Tan Cressida signed with Warner Records was a cool collection of SRS outtakes preluding his full-length debut on the label Sick!, which the flawless Voir Dire produced by one of my top 10 producers of all-time The Alchemist cleared. Last summer’s Live Laugh Love detailed his experiences of becoming a father & has brought the Surf Gang in to produce Utility.

“this2shallpass” clarifies over an ambient plugg beat from Evilgiane & Harrison that the only destination going forward is up whereas “:( again :)” goes for a more general plugg vibe talking about finding the strength to get up again. The 3rd & final single “Home on the Range” instrumentally combines plugg & trap confessing he’s not quite over the hill yet while “React” talks about going from basic to advanced training.

Meanwhile on “Hot Water (Cahuilla)”, we have Earl laughing off the idea of him folding & that the hate on the way down be the realest just before “Rectangle Lens” goes for a more experimental vibe talking about shit getting more serious by the day. “Leadbelly”featuring MIKE blends plugg, cloud rap, ambient & experimental hip hop putting a minimal emphasis on each of their distinctively abstract styles just before “quikk” feels like a 2 minute compositional intermission.

“Ew!” would rank amongst my top 5 tracks from the beat to the lyrics about anyone trying him only stumbling & stacking up all kinds of cheese in the cut while the lead single “Earth” combines cloud rap, ambient plugg, lowend & experimental hip hop speaking of having to scratch the surface so he could breathe. “Chali 2na” compares himself to the Jurassic 5 member of the same name & references WWE Hall of Famer Mr. T while “Sisyphus” talks about freezing over Hell on a daily basis.

Lerado Khalil joins Earl on “Locusts” to discuss how they’re steaming now rather than smoking while “Tour de France” talks about a little mouthful whenever he’s feeling content. “Chicago” compares himself to a merchant the way he stays outside while “Book of Eli” assures he won’t ever go away despite quieting down here & there. “AOK” looks back at when all he wanted was a tub & his father while “Don’t Worry!” sends it all off talking about him deserving to be burnt the 1st time around.

Right when “Making the Band (Danity Kane)” came out on SoundCloud a couple years ago, I knew the possibility of the Surf Gang producing an entire body of work for Earl Sweatshirt was a guaranteed & it’s as brilliant as I would’ve imagined. I already prefer the production more than Live Laugh Love mostly because it’s a lot different than what those who’ve become familiar with Earl’s discography would expect, expanding on the previously mentioned loosie’s cloudy plugg ideas & demonstrating his capability of rapping over anything.

Score: 4.5/5

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Harto Falión – “The Hurtless” review

Here we have from the 20th EP from Woodbridge, Virginia recording artist & producer Harto Falión. Originally known as Trip Dixon, he would later make a bigger name for himself after joining the Surf Gang totaling his discography to 3 albums along with 3 mixtapes & 19 solo EPs in addition to Hall00 Hart’s eponymous debut. He’s been locking in with Evilgiane as of late, continuing the acclaim of im_my_best_friend & .BloOdY-gEeKeR* by putting out The Hurtless.

“Dreams turned Nightmares” is this cloudy intro feeling like he’s in the middle of a nightmare most of the time whereas the guitar-trap fusion “Don’t believe ‘em” talks about turning the horrors in his head into a musical. “Unloveable” brushes off any time he has for the bullshit & referring to love as a drug over a plugg instrumental, but then “Keep! Out!” co-produced by Harrison psychedelically likens life to a Ferris wheel asking to be left alone.

Harto discusses getting his hands dirty being the only way he’s feeling everything on the chaotic “pH” & after an intermission, “i really don’t give a fuhck” goes for a woozier vibe talking about giving 0 fucks whatsoever. “Like Lain” has a cloudy drill tone to it airing out those who falsely claim they real just before “Life’s Corny” talks about the world as we know it today going to shit.

“Different places still feel familiar” discusses walking on the sky until I space out, everything still feeling the same to him everywhere he goes & taking his own route as opposed to going the fast lane like everyone else while “Long story short.” completes The Hurtless by getting stupid high, feeling departed as of recently & being unable to sit still since the nights are getting longer the way he’s seeing it.

The Surf Gang has been constantly elevating Trip for the past 4 years now & The Hurtless could be my new favorite of the 8 projects they’ve done with each other. Evilgiane steps out of his comfort zone expanding his sound from cloud rap to plugg, experimental hip hop, drum & bass, indietronica and emo rap on top of Harto keeping up elevating his pen-game.

Score: 4.5/5

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Valee – “Great Sky London” review

New York producer Evilgiane teaming up with Chicago, Illinois rapper Valee for the latter’s 7th EP. Making his name known by releasing 3 mixtapes & a couple EPs from the span of 2015-2018, it wasn’t until one of my top 10 producers of all-time Ye formerly known as Kanye West signed him to a joint deal with G.O.O.D. Music & Def Jam Recordings. The next 2 EPs G.O.O.D. Job, You Found Me & Runnin’ Rich helped spread plugg music to a mainstream audience despite both receiving mixed reception to the point where he would go his own way from Thersday onward. I should also mention that Valee additionally has 2 EPs with AYOCHILLMAN as the duo The TrAppiEst as well as 2 more with ChaseTheMoney as the duo VTM & 2 with Stan Lane as the duo Vlane. His full-length debut Virtuoso produced by Harry Fraud from last summer won me over on him & Partridge produced by Black Noi$e from this spring reached that same caliber & increasing my excitement for Grey Sky London.

“Why Not” is this sample drill opener that he & WTM Niketech put together talking about being in Malibu & a bitch gotta catch him even though this ain’t the MLB whatsoever in addition to taking the backstreet whereas “Up Here” co-produced by Harrison takes a cloudier direction instrumentally asking the hoe what type of time she on since he has the same clock. “Hi Hater Maino” promises that he’ll break up with his girl if he finds out she’s broke & “Elbow” kinda has a plugg vibe to the beat from Eera talking about pulling a hoe for lean, but then “By da Way” ends the EP by refusing to chase a hoe & stopping at Chase Bank instead.

It’s incredible to think that the same guy Ye signed to G.O.O.D. Music for 15 minutes nearly 7 years ago by now would be going on a full redemption arc starting with Virtuoso, only for Partridge & now Great Sky London to expand on. Evilgiane’s cloudy, sample drill & plugg-influenced production is a welcoming change of pace compared to the experimental vibes that Black Noi$e brought to Partridge over 7 months ago & Valee’s own performances maintains the laser-focus that were prominent throughout the other 2 previously mentioned projects he’s given us in the past year & a half.

Score: 4/5

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Durkalini – “Church & Surf” review

This is the 2nd EP from Roanoke, Alabama rapper Durkalini. Introducing himself in the trap scene over a year ago off his last EP 4000 Degrees, he continued to push himself in the forefront by releasing a couple mixtapes Pyro the Pastor & Pilgrimage last fall. After taking a 9-month break, lini’s taking us to Church & Surf teaming up with the remaining producer members of the Surf Gang collective so they can help make it the most well-rounded offering in his discography

“Freaks Out” produced by Evilgiane, Eera & even Goner right before he departed the Surf Gang only recently starts the sermon on some plugg shit talking about being out all night when the freaks come out whereas “Rather Be Safe 2” works in an orchestral backdrop & hi-hats thanks to Harrison preferring to be safe than sorry. “Green Card” brings the plugg vibes back asking where the fuck your card is again while “Objection” has a fuzzier trap flare to talk about every day being the weekend.

The cloudier aesthetics of “Soho” are a nice touch referencing the titular shopping destination in New York south of Houston Street in Manhattan leading into Giane & Graham Perez providing “Alligator” with an atmospheric sound feeling like it’s a holy matrimony the way Durkalini be married to this shit. “Bottega Boots” has more of a rich trap groove flexing the designer footwear copped from Bottega Veneta, but then “Damn Huh” hooks up an organ & hi-hats knowing he gon’ race the pigs.

“Guinness” pushes towards the encore of Church & Surf talking about being unable to buy new guns since he’s a bandit, staying on the corner although he can’t give no directions, not stopping at red lights since he already got a ticket anyway & the fact that they don’t teach us shit in school still tryna give people in the streets a sentence while “Cartier Wires” finishes the EP on a peppy cloud rap note boasting that his pockets are loaded & broke bitches being the very last thing he’s thinking about.

Surf Gang’s been on a crazy production team run since Pasto Flocco, Polo Perks, Moh Baretta & pretty much all the other former vocalists in the crew departed to focus on their solo careers and Church & Surf joins Matt Ox’s 4th EP OXygen as the best of the 5 EPs they’ve laced in the last 10 months. The production’s more consistent than lini’s past material & the Alabama up-&-comer lets new listeners in as to who he is.

Score: 4/5

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Slimesito – “EVILSLIME” review

This is the 16th EP from Atlanta, Georgia rapper Slimesito. Notable for being a member of the quintet Jurassic Park, he would also drop 3 LPs as well as 15 EPs & a mixtape of his own. Highlights in his discography include his 4th EP Scarface Sito, his 9th EP Rich Slime, his full-length debut Vida Brazy, 11th EP Life of a Slime & lastly the Dedication duology hosted by DJ Phat. And now with Yonkers producer Evilgiane of the Surf Gang coming fresh off lacing The Hillbillies’ eponymous debut single, I had a strong feeling ahead of EVILSLIME that it could top everything else as the crown jewel of Sito’s discography.

“Designer Drugz” gets the ball rolling detailing Slimesito’s lifestyle over a plugg instrumental whereas “Right or Wrong” co-produced by Eera finds the 2 joining forces going into a cloudier direction with some hi-hats thrown in talking about sliding for the gang without caring who’s in the right or who’s in the wrong. “Bandoleros” kinda has this airy drill vibe to the beat referring to himself as a rebel prior to the booming “Mona Lisa” painting the block much like the iconic painting the EP’s artwork pays homage to.

K$upreme joins Sito on the psychedelic “Top Floor” flexing the penthouse status that both artists have earned at this point in their careers while the atmospheric drill hybrid “Make It Home” reminding everyone that he been had motion. “Bruise Wayne” works in these ominous synth melodies & hi-hats talking about being on the block no differently than Batman, but then “12 03 93” gives me a cinematic vibe instrumentally feeling like making shit snow although it’s summertime.

“Top Kapo” pushes near the end of EVILSLIME calling himself a top dog over a cloudy beat just before “No Stress” clashes hi-hats & low-register synth melodies refusing to stress over Ls by getting back in counting through all the racks. The closing track “Dr. Evil” finishes the EP with a more playful tone in the production & Sito talking about everyone calling him evil since they know he stay plotting, likening himself to the titular antagonist of the Austin Powers trilogy.

Giane’s increasing popularity in the last couple years has been making me extremely happy as someone who’s been paying attention to him for the past 3 years & not only has become EVILSLIME my new favorite Slimesito EP, but I’d even put it up there with RealYungPhil’s 5th EP Dr. Phil as one of the greatest projects that the Surf Gang member has fully produced for another artist so far since the end result is Evilgiane’s sound being used as a canvas for Sito to paint his masterpiece.

Score: 4/5

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