Tag: Fool’s Gold Records

The Cool Kids – “Hi Top Fade” review

The Cool Kids are a midwestern duo from consisting of Chicago, Illinois rapper & songwriter Sir Michael Rocks and Mount Clemens, Michigan rapper, producer & songwriter Chuck Inglish. Releasing 6 mixtapes between the mid-late 2000s, they made their full length debut in the summer of 2011 with When Fish Ride Bicycles & reunited for the 2017 sophomore effort Special Edition Grand Master Deluxe. Last we heard from them was the Before Shit Got Weird & Baby Oil Staircase / Chillout triple disc trilogy in 2022, returning to Fools Gold Records for their 4th studio LP.

“Cigarello Helmets” is a 61 second Mobb intro produced by Chuck Inglish to flex that they’ve re-up’d whereas “We Got Clips” takes the psychedelic boom bap route instrumentally getting in their battle rap bags lyrically. “Dang!” talks about how other rappers want rain & start complaining soon as they get clout while “Rockbox” throws it back to the mid-school thanks to none other than A-Trak styling on everybody.

As for the single “Foil Bass”, we have Chuck & Sir Michael hopping over a Neptunes-inspired beat to talk about the pair poppin’ like they got jalapeños on ‘em just before “95 South” throws it back to when Atlanta bass was becoming popular 3 decades ago to boast the motion they still got. “Banana in the Tailpipe” featuring Seafood Sam unites the trio to pay their respects to the late Drakeo the Ruler while “Blade Runner” featuring Radamiz asks who’ll be seeing heaven first.

“Crunch Rap Supreme” returns to the boom bap with some of the hungriest performances on the entire album (no pun intended) prior to “Don’t Say My Name” wanting to know why some call them by their governments when out in public. Pink Siifu saves the best feature for “Clean Linen Satin Pillow” tackling the theme of betrayal while the silky “Tryin’ to Get Like You” talks about there being a lot to being fresh that nobody really tells us.

The song “Cinnamon Part 2” kicks off Hi Top Fade’s final act with a sequel to a standout from their Gone Fishing mixtape & once “Live Wire” hooks up some prominent synthesizers for a more romantic vibe talking about keeping each other up all night dancing until dawn, the closer “Back Up Off Me” nostalgically feels reminiscent of 80s R&B with a hip hop spin being put on in.

Special Edition Grand Master Deluxe along with the Before Shit Got Weird & Baby Oil Staircase / Chillout series all had songs that I liked, but Hi Top Fade has gotta be the most consistent full-length that I’ve heard from these guys in almost 15 years right when I had finished middle school & probably outdoing it in terms of quality. Even with When Fish Ride Bicycles having better guests, the main focus of both Chuck Inglish’s production & his chemistry with Sir Michael Rocks are the most exciting it’s been in a while ahead of when or if Mannie Fresh produces their next album.

Score: 4.5/5

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Cam’ron – “U Wasn’t There” review

Cam’ron is a 46 year old rapper, record executive & actor from Harlem, New York who came up in the mid-late 90’s as a member of the Children of the Corn. He eventually signed to Epic Records as a solo artist, dropping his first 2 full-lengths Confessions of Fire & S.D.E. (Sports, Drugs & Entertainment) with them until the contract expired. However Cam’s biggest exposure would come by forming his own group The Diplomats as a well as signing to Roc-A-Fella Records & Def Jam Recordings in 2001. His next 2 efforts Come Home with Me & Purple Haze would become his most sought out bodies of work, but Cam would leave The Roc & sign to Asylum Records in ‘05 due to the poor promotion of Purple Haze. Cam would yet again drop 2 outings with Asylum before parting ways, Killa Season & Crime Pays. He has since dropped a couple mixtapes & originally planned on retiring from making music following Purple Haze 2 a few Christmases back, Killa has had a change of heart & is bringing in Fool’s Gold Records founder A-Trak to produce his 7th EP.

Things kick off with a superior remix to “This is My City” off Cam’s last album featuring co-production from Thelonius Martin whereas “All I Really Wanted” works in some lavish keyboard embellishments & chipmunk soul with G Koop’s assistance talking about all the things he desires most in life. Conway the Machine tags along for the horn-laced “Ghetto Prophets laced with the help of DJ Khalil wittingly declaring themselves to be such, but then “Dipset Acrylics” weaves some reggae influences into the fold down to the Mr. Vegas feature awkwardly talking about sex.

After the spoken word Dame Dash skit with Kenny Beats supplying the synths, “Cheers” comes through with a colorful celebratory anthem just before Jim Jones & Styles P come into the picture for the tropical trap banger “Think Boy” demanding to know how others really feels bout them. The penultimate track “What You Do” is a jazzy ode to Killa’s accomplishments that !llmind helped put together & “Dipshits” ends the EP with a throwback to the Dipset era from the Juelz Santana appearance to Just Blaze having his hand with the beat.

For a little 27 minute EP, I can honestly say that U Wasn’t There is the most I’ve enjoyed a Cam project in a minute & will go down as a high point on his catalog in due time. A-Trak’s production happens to be admirably more eclectic than Purple Haze 2 was with Killa Cam sounding like he has a fire under his ass lyrically.

Score: 4/5

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