Daniel Son – “Hare Brained Schemes” review

Here we have the 8th proper full-length solo LP from Toronto, Ontario, Canada emcee Daniel Son. A member of the Brown Bag Money collective, his profile began to rapidly increase in the underground off projects like the Giallo Point-produced debut mixtape The Gunners or the Futurewave-produced sophomore album Yenaldooshi. He just teamed up with Raz Fresco this spring for the spectacular collab album Northside paying homage to the roots of the Toronto hip hop scene & a few months after reuniting with Futurewave for the first time since Son Tzu & the Wav.God on Bushman Bodega over the summer, he & Finn are linking up for Hare Brained Schemes.

“Femoral” is this grungy boom bap opener talking about turning flesh into ice since he’s so cold & people wasting time like they have extra lives whereas “Missing Teeth” gives off a jazzier approach instrumentally applying pressure on everyone’s necks with their feet for deep pockets. “Capital Gains” featuring Pro Dillinger maintains a jazzy boom bap flare cautioning to recognize before they reck their lives, but then “Dance of the Drunken Mantis” briefly expresses his desire to be a Bush Doctor Millionaire.

As for “Clicqout Fountains”, we have Daniel hopping over a soulful beat boasting at the main pot to piss in was shitting on the competition leading into “Courtleigh Chemist” regularly talking about not changing shit if he were to do it all over again. “Chalk Brothers” featuring Lord Juco mixes the exuberant with the raw bodying shit together while “Iron Leash” featuring Family Gang Black finds the 2 grittily translating their pain into passion now that their music rocking overseas.

“Talon Claw” starts the final leg of the LP talking about cooking as if he was a French chef in the ‘60s while “Call Me” drumlessly reaffirms that he’ll go down as a legend when it’s all said & done saying it’s the dope everyone needs. “Sharing Needles” featuring Mooch returns to the boom bap catching the big sharks since neither one of them want to meet their demise struggling & “Fall Breeze” closes Hare Brained Schemes in the form of a dedication of those who have to stay home on the weekends because they can’t afford a sitter.

Dirty Dishes has always stood out to me as one of my favorite Daniel Son projects much like everything he & Futurewave have done with one another in the past, so that was more than enough to have me anticipating the follow up here & they sure as Hell delivered. Finn’s production here is some of the best that I’ve heard from him in a while, the features all match Daniel’s energy & the BBM standout himself lyrically keeps the same energy from the other 2 acclaimed projects I’ve covered from him this year.

Score: 4.5/5

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UFO Fev – “Blood on the Bills” review

UFO Fev is a 38 year old MC from Harlem, New York who came up in 2014 off his full-length debut Around My Way. But wasn’t until 2020 when he saw his biggest year yet by dropping not 1 but 3 well received projects: the Statik Selektah-produced sophomore effort Fresh Air along with the Termanology-produced debut EP From El Barrio, With Love & the Big Ghost Ltd.-produced 3rd album The Ghost of Albizu. This was all followed up with Magnum Opus along with the Vanderslice-produced Enigma of Dalí & 4 EPs: The Most High, Prayer, Weed & Music, E Pluribus Unum & more recently Sunsets in the Ghetto. But for his 6th full-length over here, Fev’s enlisting Finn of the Brown Bag Money collective behind the boards from start to finish.

“A1 Credit” is a gully opener where Fev comes out to admit that he don’t need any credit & that he ain’t slept-on until Pro Dillinger tags along for the jazzy “Drop the Needle” talking about not freezing when the world gets too cold for ya. LRed Inf then comes into the picture for the boom bap-heavy “Check the Balance” going in depth of doing it for the love & doing just that when they wake up whereas “Wash the Bills” takes a more drumless route talking about being a hustler.

However on “Drug Free”, we have Fev over a bare sample explaining how badly the crack epidemic impacted his community leading into the Ty Farris-assisted “Tax Man” returning to the boom bap letting y’all know it’s about respect rather than money. “Caged Birds” has a more mellow sound to it venting about life going on & on, but then “Left vs. Right” goes chipmunk soul detailing a conflict with both hands. The track “Watch What You Say” pretty much says it all over a somber yet dusty beat & prior to the spoken word outro “Words of Wisdom”, the gully “Keep Spending” with Saipher Soze truly sends off the album with the 2 MCs about how drug dealing is essentially an American past time.

Fev’s last 4 EPs have been hit or miss with me personally, but it just goes without saying that Blood on the Bills wipes the floor & will go down as one of his best projects much like Fresh Air or The Ghost of Albizu. Finn continues to cement himself as one of the best underground producers that Canada has to offer in recent memory with his incredible raw sound & Fev himself sounds rejuvenated on the mic.

Score: 4/5

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Asun Eastwood – “The S.O.U.L. (Science Of Understanding Life)” review

This is the 5th full-length album from Toronto, Ontario, Canada emcee Asun Eastwood. Coming up as part of the Brown Bag Money collective, he eventually broke out solo in 2017 off his debut mixtape Hollywood Briggs & then a Finn-produced debut album With All Due Respect a couple years later. We were just treated to P.I.M.P. (Prophecy Is My Present) a few months ago to celebrate Asun’s born day & for a follow-up, he’s reuniting with Finn for The S.O.U.L. (Science Of Understanding Life).

The title track at the start sets the tone for the album really with Asun jumping on a soul sample to talk about leaving a legacy before Ill Conscious accompanies him on the boom bap, integrity-themed “Soul Cry”. The song “Humility” with Daniel Son is short yet affective as the duo talk about never dying on top of a somewhat fuzzy instrumental whereas “Cassius Clay Fist” is a other short cut, except it’s a lot darker in sound & the reckless lyricism.

Rigz jumps on the dreary “Thrill of Victory” to help depict how exciting it is to be victorious & not only is the storytelling on “Bookey Owned the 80s” outstanding, but I also love how smooth the production is. SLNC might have the weakest feature on the album with the mafiosi “Keep It Clean”, but Flee Lord makes up for it on “.40” as he & Asun get on their gun-talk shit on top of a bass-guitar & a flute.

Meanwhile, we have Saipher Soze tagging along for the rock-influenced “Midnight Sun” to get introspective before he & Family Gang Black spit about pride & stupidity on the old western-flavored “CB4”. The song “Crown to Crown” with M.A.V. has an extravagant instrumental with the duo talking about pushing weight while the penultimate track is a gorgeous sequel to “Soul’s Mystery” off With All Due Respect. The closer “Float Away” gets back on the rock tip telling listeners to look at him now.

Despite me enjoying P.I.M.P. (Prophecy Is My Present), I’d say Asun outdid himself on The S.O.U.L. (Science Of Understanding Life). A couple of the features punched under their weight in my opinion but nonetheless, his lyricism has stepped up & Finn’s production is amongst the best he’s ever cooked up.

Score: 4/5

Saipher Soze – “Eat What You Kill” review

Saipher Soze is a 31 year old MC from Toronto, Ontario, Canada coming up as a member of the Brown Bag Money collective. He eventually went solo on 2017 with Godbody & then Kanibull Rising just 10 months after that but after doing a handful of features throughout 2019 & a little bit of this year too, Saipher is back with his 3rd full-length album.

The album ends with “Ambrosia” gets confrontational over a frightening instrumental from Futurewave whereas the next song “Fat Cheques” with Daniel Son & Mooch finds the trio talking about the money over a soulful Finn beat. The track “Strong Arm Godz” with Asun Eastwood sees the 2 spitting straight up gangsta shit over a boom bap instrumental with an acoustic loop while the song “Ho-Lee-Chow” close captions his life over a ghostly beat.

The track “Lycan” talks about moving weight & sticking dudes up if he ain’t gon’ make it in the industry over a symphonic boom bap instrumental while the song “Unadulterated” with Family Gang Black finds the 2 getting murderous over a devilish beat. The track “Powerhouse” talks about double-crossers over a gritty instrumental while the song “Moe Greene” gets back on the money-tip over a luxurious beat.

The track “Roland Garros” comes at his competition’s necks over a gloomy instrumental while the song “Screwface” talks about not trusting a soul over a mournful boom bap beat. The track “Mulekick” talks about falling for nothing over a dreary instrumental while “The Revenant” with Jai Black sees the 2 talking about the game getting twisted over a suspenseful beat. The song “Van Glow” reunites with Family Gang Black to talk about time moving fast over a jazzy instrumental & then the closer “Sock Darts” reunites with Daniel Son to talk about how much noise they’ve made in recent years over a beat with some keys & horns.

Overall, this is the best thing that Saipher’s has put out yet. Not only has his lyricism stepped up with each new album, but Futurewave & Finn both remind listeners of their place as some of the dopest producers in the underground today.

Score: 4.5/5

Daniel Son – “Dirty Dishes” review

Daniel Son is an emcee from Toronto, Ontario, Canada who’s been going at it since 2016 with his debut mixtape The Gunners. His sophomore album Yenaldooshi that came out last summer would go onto become his magnum opus & it was followed up 4 months later with Moonshine Mix 2. But to kick off his 2020, he’s teaming up with Finn for Dirty Dishes.

The album kicks off with “Fly Decorum”, where Daniel talks about being a legend over an instrumental kin to a blaxploitation film. The next song “Hit the Switch” with Asun Eastwood sees the 2 talking about those “trying to replace what we stole” over a spooky instrumental while the track “Foreign Chauffeur” with Rome Streetz sees the 2 reminiscing on growing up in the hood referencing 2-time WWE Hall of Famer, former 16-time WWE world champion, WWE Intercontinental Champion, 6-time WWE United States Champion, 6-time WWE tag team champion & 9-time NWA World’s Heavyweight Champion Ric Flair over a mournful boom bap beat.

The song “All Nighter” with Rob Gates sees the 2 getting mafioso over a mellow instrumental while the track “Cherry Beach” talks about his team being hungry over a somber piano instrumental. The song “Money Train” is really touching despite it’s 63 second runtime while the track “Lemon Hill” is another short yet gritty cut about how ill he is.

The song “Chasing Ghosts” with Jay Royale sees the 2 making a gruesome tribute to the heathens while the track “Burnt Thumbs” gets back on the drug dealing tip over a boom bap beat with a whimsical sounding flute. The song “Dirty Dozen” with Raz Fresco, Rigz & Saipher Soze is an eerie barfest while the penultimate track “Shorty from the West” with Family Gang Black sees the 2 talking about losing this woman to the streets over a settle instrumental with a guitar echoing in the back. The album then finishes with “Boat Trips”, where Daniel gets introspective over an unbeat instrumental.

Daniel has been one of the most consistent dudes in the underground within the past few years & this is easily one of the best projects he’s ever put out. His lyricism has been getting more razor sharp with each release & Finn continue to reveal himself as one of the best producers Canada has to offer.

Score: 4.5/5