Westside Gunn – “Heels Have Eyes” review

Here we have the 7th EP from Buffalo, New York emcee, songwriter, entrepreneur, curator & now professional wrestling promoter after forming the 4th Rope independent circuit promotion Westside Gunn. Proving his legend status & that he’s to be a force to be reckoned with all in nearly a decade whether it be running one of the hottest hip hop labels in recent memory to his first 2 full-lengths FLYGOD & Supreme Blientele. The success of the 4th Rope promotion has included 2-time RoW Heavyweight Champion & current HoG Crown Jewel Champion Zilla Fatu becoming the inaugural 4th Rope Heavyweight Champion carrying on the legacy of his late father in former AJPW世界タッグチャンピオン, FMWハードコアタッグチームチャンピオン and 2-time WWE Intercontinental Champion Umaga & even the current 3-time TNA World Tag Team Champions The Hardy Boyz becoming the inaugural 4th Rope World Tag Team Champions, putting together a joint pay-per-view with the Brett Lauderdale-owned deathmatch promotion Game Changer Wrestling (GCW) called For the Culture that will be taking place in Las Vegas tonight ahead of WrestleMania XLI live on the Comcast Corporation subsidiary NBCUniversal-owned streaming service peacock, surprise-releasing Heels Have Eyes to coincide with it.

After the “Fishscale Friday” intro, the first song “Einstein Kitchen” produced by CG is this piano-based boom bap opener taking y’all to the spot where the rhymes are cooked leading into the drumless “Goro” that Harry Fraud laced admitting that he had to go back inside the kitchen so he can go to SummerSlam XXXVIII in August that’ll mark the 1st to take place across 2 nights. “Davey Boy Smith” returns to the boom bap thanks to Denny LaFlare homaging the late WWE Hall of Famer, former WWE Intercontinental Champion, 2-time WWE Tag Team Champion & 2-time WWE Hardcore Champion of the same name & the closer “Egypt” featuring Doechii on the remix soulfully references former ROH World Television Champion, NXT Champion & 3-time WWE tag team champion Tommaso Ciampa.

In what’s already been a huge week for professional wrestling with WrestleMania along with AEW Dynamite outliving WCW’s Monday Nitro as Discovery Global’s longest running wrestling show in spite of WWE Hall of Famer & former 3-time WCW Hardcore Champion Eric Bischoff, West drops off a quick 10-minute EP to warm everyone up ahead of 4th Rope’s biggest event yet with the east coast hip hop styles that’ve made GxFR so beloved in the past decade & one that I might like more than the EP he put out 5 months ago. The production balances boom bap, drumless, a hint of jazz rap & chipmunk soul fluidly on top of the iconic curator handling the vocal performances solely by himself in contrast to having a bunch of guests on it.

Score: 4.5/5

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Westside Gunn – “Hitler Wears Hermes XII” review

Buffalo, New York emcee, songwriter, entrepreneur, curator & now professional wrestling promoter after forming the 4th Rope independent circuit promotion Westside Gunn continuing the Hitler Wears Hermes series with his 12th mixtape & the 12th installment overall. Proving his legend status & that he’s to be a force to be reckoned with all in nearly a decade whether it be running one of the hottest hip hop labels in recent memory to his first 2 full-lengths FLYGOD & Supreme Blientele. Initially set to come last month, the 12th chapter is here ahead of joint pay-per-view between 4th Rope & Game Changer Wrestling (GCW) called For the Culture taking place in Las Vegas during the same weekend as WWE’s WrestleMania XLI live on the Comcast Corporation subsidiary NBCUniversal streaming service peacock.

After the “Michelle World” intro, the first song “Boswell” featuring Estee Nack & Stove God Cook$ is this 5-minute boom bap opener dropping hardcore lyricism including a reference to the current ROH World Tag Team Champion & ROH World 6-Man Tag Team Champion Dustin Rhodes leading The Sons of Texas faction in AEW/ROH over a sample provided by Denny LaFlare whereas “Adam Page” featuring Stove God named after the former AEW World Champion, AEW World Tag Team Champion & 2-time ROH World 6-Man Tag Team Champion who became more over after his feud with former AEW World Champion, AEW World Tag Team Champion, CZW World Heavyweight Champion, CZW Wired TV Champion, 3-time DEFY World Champion, DEFY Tag Team Champion, Evolve Champion, MLW World Heavyweight Champion & NXT North American Champion Swerve Strickland talks about being crazy rich these days.

“Veert” by Estee Nack & Stove hops over a drumless piano instrumental from Daringer to showcase their skills the soulful “055” demands you praise West & Stove. “Health Science” featuring Brother Tom Sos that the homie CG slickly laced lets off shots to the head as if it’s personal leading into Brother Tom Sos sticking around for “Gumbo Yaya” having somewhat over a funkier vibe to the beat talking about them living it & having it for a grip. “East Miami” featuring Estee Nack strips the drums again to portray the gangsta lifestyle for 4 & a half minutes just before “Bury Me with a Stove” featuring Estee Nack gives their flowers to former 4-time WWE world champion, WWE United States Champion & CWA Heavyweight Champion Sid Eudy.

The only single “Outlander” finds Rick Hyde’s son & Benny the Butcher’s nephew Myles behind the boards interestingly hitting the backend of the 12th installment of the Hitler Wears Hermes saga referencing the late WWE Hall of Famer, former WWE Intercontinental Champion, 3-time WWE United States Champion, WWE Tag Team Champion & 2-time WCW World Television Champion “Rowdy” Roddy Piper showing some jazzier influences this time around prior to the drumless “Dump World” featuring Stove God Cook$ taking shots at those who failed at throwing dirt on their names.

Hitler Wears Hermes XI last Devil’s Night was a huge indication that the infamous series can carry on right when everyone initially thought Hitler Wears Hermes X would be the end of it & if anything, Hitler Wears Hermes XII feels more like a sequel to Peace FLYGOD other than both of Brother Tom Sos’ appearances primarily because of Estee Nack & Stove God Cook$ being featured all over it like they were on Peace FLYGOD in addition to the strong production during the 43 & a half minutes.

Score: 3.5/5

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Westside Gunn – “Still Praying” review

Here we have the 8th studio LP from Buffalo, New York emcee, songwriter, entrepreneur, curator & now professional wrestling promoter/booker with the foundation of his own 4th Rope independent circuit promotion Westside Gunn. Proving his legend status & that he’s to be a force to be reckoned with all in nearly a decade whether it be running one of the hottest hip hop labels in recent memory to his first 2 full-lengths FLYGOD & Supreme Blientele. He just put out the 11th installment of his infamous Halloween mixtape series Hitler Wears Hermes yesterday & is now following up And Then You Pray for Me with Still Praying.

After the “Waly Fay” intro & the “Justin Roberts” skit provided by the AEW Yapper Dapper who started in WWE over 2 decades ago, the first song “Beef Bar” produced by Denny LaFlare & Statik Selektah is a lavish boom bap opener welcoming everyone to the lifestyles of the rich & famous whereas “Max Caster” named after the former AEW World Tag Team Champion & AEW World Trios Champion of The Acclaimed dustily worries about the almighty dollar. “Dr. Britt Baker” featuring Brother Tom Sos named after the former AEW Women’s World Champion keeps it in the basement thanks to DJ Muggs introducing y’all to the dentist who gave them multi-million dollar smiles & “I Know Verdy” maintains a boom bap edge refusing to show pity.

“Speedy 40” hopped over this slow, morbid instrumental from long-time Griselda in-house producer Daringer talking about being too greedy while the cutthroat “Duran Duran” that JR Swiftz laced salutes Jeff Hardy of the current 3-time TNA World Team Champions The Hardy Boyz. “Runway Pieces at the Last Supper” works in a mellow backdrop mixed with kicks & snares reflecting on the war they used to have while “Free Shots” by Hall ‘N Nash or hip hop’s equivalent to former 2-time AEW World Tag Team Champions, ROH World Tag Team Champions, AAA Mundial Parejas Campeons, IWGPタッグチャンピオン, & 5-time WWE tag team champions FTR after “Bike Air” interlude pays homage to incarcerated Drumwork Music Group artist Shots Almigh over a Conductor Williams beat.

The title track featuring Benny the Butcher, Boldy James, Conway the Machine & Stove God Cook$ pushes towards the final moments of Still Praying with this insane 7-minute Griselda posse cut while the song “Underground King” featuring Rome Streetz returns to the boom bap talking about how both of them are the greatest of all shit talkers including a reference to former 2-time WCW World Heavyweight Champion, 2-time WCW World Television Champion, 3-time WCW World Tag Team Champion & 5-time WWE United States Champion Lex Luger. “LeSalle Station” properly finishes the album by reflecting on all the people that he’s lost back to back.

Coming off the most personal project that West has ever made Hitler Wears Hermes XI only 24 hours ago, he’s continuing the hot streak with a follow-up to And Then You Pray for Me that I think people are gonna like a lot more than the predecessor. The production is rooted in the traditional boom bap sound Griselda is known for in contrast to the trap heavy influences of last time & the guests all maintain his level on the mic.

Score: 4/5

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Westside Gunn – “Hitler Wears Hermes XI” review

Buffalo, New York emcee, songwriter, entrepreneur, curator & now professional wrestling promoter/booker with the founding of his own 4th Rope independent circuit promotion Westside Gunn restarting the Hitler Wears Hermes series with his 6th EP. Proving his legend status & that he’s to be a force to be reckoned with all in nearly a decade whether it be running one of the hottest hip hop labels in recent memory to his first 2 full-lengths FLYGOD & Supreme Blientele. Last we heard from West was And Then You Pray for Me which as a trap-heavy sequel to Pray for Paris, but is dropping Hitler 11 on Halloween & in 24 hours’ notice of Still Praying.

After the “Stone” intro, the first song “Big Dump Ballad” is a soulful opener produced by Denny LaFlare throwing in bars about WWE’s current VP of Global Talent Development in former 4-time WCW World Television Champion, 2-time WWE Intercontinental Champion, 4-time WWE tag team champion & 3-time WWE Hardcore Champion William Regal taking on former NWA World’s Heavyweight Champion, 4-time WCW World Television Champion, 8-time WCW World Tag Team Champion, WWE Hall of Famer, 5-time WWE United States Champion & WWE Intercontinental Champion Ricky Steamboat.

Former NXT Champion, WWE Tag Team Champion & now The Wyatt Sick6 leader Bo Dallas of the RAW brand gets “Unkle Howdy” named after him working in a rich piano instrumental referencing WWE Hall of Famer, 6-time WWE world champion, WWE Intercontinental Champion, WWE United States Champion, WWE Tag Team Champion, WWE Hardcore Champion, IWGPヘビー級チャンピオン, the inaugural 6-time TNA World Champion, TNA X Division Champion & 2-time TNA World Tag Team Champion Kurt Angle whom 4-time WWE tag team champion Chad Gable has drawn comparisons to.

“Cain Tejada” takes the boom bap route recalling the 1994 SummerSlam bout between Tatanka & former 2-time WCW World Heavyweight Champion, 3-time WCW World Tag Team Champion, 2-time WCW World Television Champion & 5-time WWE United States Champion Lex Luger that is until “Paulin Paulin Paulin” brings a soul flare back turning 1 to 3 through the luck of the pot.

Hitler Wears Hermes X was a great place to finish the saga since it since it came out around the same timeframe as Ye formerly known as Kanye West’s infamous antisemitic meltdown calling himself a Nazi on InfoWars over a month later, but we still got an enjoyable 15 minute listen with Hitler Wears Hermes XI. Denny LaFlare gets to shine more behind the boards since he’s most underrated member of The Heartbreakers & the FLYGOD calls to let Sly Green home without any guests.

Score: 4/5

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Conductor Williams – “Conductor, We Have a Problem 3” review

Conductor Williams is a 42 year old producer from Kansas City, Missouri notable for being 1/3 of the Griselda Records in-house production trio The Heartbreakers. His popularity in recent memory has been growing exponentially, earning himself a chance to work with those from Drake & J. Cole to more recently REi the Imperial for his Operation: Flamethrower EP last month. This ultimately resulted in the 3rd installment of the Conductor, We Have a Problem series having guests perform on every song as opposed to previously releasing beat tapes up until this point.

After the “Modus Operandi V” intro, the first song “Paint Pictures” by Evidence uncannily starts us off talking about fitting it less the more that he does whereas “Get Away!” by Rome Streetz was a great choice of a lead single attacking their opposition for being washed. After the “Board 40” interlude, “Hell in a Hellcat” by eLZhi takes the boom bap instrumentally to talk about being an anomaly prior to the soulful “Space Heater” by Domo Genesis points out that this ain’t what they thought it’d be.

“Ecstasy” by Russ has this underwhelming, melodic delivery throughout that just kills the vibe for me personally leading into the dusty “Hold You” by Benny the Butcher & Wiz Khalifa making up for it by telling everyone who ain’t in the game to stay in the bleachers. After the “Skin” interlude, “Guilty” by Leon Thomas III shifts gears in favor of a passionate R&B ballad just before the sample-driven “Down Bad” by Bishop Nehru preludes his upcoming self-produced album Solace in Shadows later this weekend.

The penultimate track “Necessary Cherry” by Wiki pushes towards the final moments of the 3rd installment of the Conductor, We Have a Problem trilogy talking about shipping, mundane & amazing at the same time “Kent” by Elijah Hooks ends with the latter singing on top of this subdued instrumental promising his lover that he’ll be there when they call him.

Other than a couple performers who punch under their weight, this is damn near everything that I would’ve expected from Conductor Williams making a producer project. The overall sound mostly sticks with the signature hardcore boom bap aesthetics that many know him for with a hint of R&B thrown in on the side with a primarily well-curated list of artists joint him for the ride.

Score: 4/5

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Rome Streetz – “Hatton Garden Holdup” review

New York lyricist Rome Streetz enlisting Daringer for his 9th studio LP. Emerging in 2016 off his debut mixtape I Been Thru Mad Shit, this was followed up by a plethora of projects with the most notable being the Noise Kandy tetralogy & Headcrack. These past couple years however we’re probably his biggest ones yet, as he dropped some of the best work of his career from the DJ Muggs-produced Death & the Magician or the Futurewave-produced Razor’s Edge to the Ransom-assisted collab effort Coup de Grâce & the Griselda Records deal that followed. His debut with the Buffalo powerhouse Kiss the Ring alongside the Big Ghost Ltd.-produced Wasn’t Built in a Day both made the top 10 spots of my last couple Best Of lists & I had no doubt Hatton Garden Holdup would do the same coming off the 5th & final installment of the Noise Kandy series.

“Ace of Base” starts us off by stripping the drums completely detailing his expertise in the drug game whereas “Starbvxkz” takes the boom bap route instrumentally talking about this shit being a cakewalk to him. “Sage” featuring ScHoolboy Q finds the 2 linking up so they can coldly talk about being married to the game leading into “Drive By” going drumless again providing the theme music to firing a weapon from within a motor vehicle & then fleeing.

Meyhem Lauren joins Rome on “Cadillac Smoke” working in some kicks, snares & even a vibraphone leaving everyone in the morgue frozen every time they hop on the mic just before “100 Schemes” maintains a gritty boom bap flare cautioning to not let anyone fuck you over in this industry, but then “Spike” samples are off music once again dissing those who’ve been at the same spot for so damn long.

“Pro Tro” featuring Conway the Machine brings the kicks & snares back in the equation flexing that both of them were destined to score while “Weight of the World” featuring Cormega finds the 2 dustily raising Hell in the midst of being on a paper trail. “Jimi’s Headband” eerily talks being an amazing artist that started out as a Street Fighter while “SpaceX” named after the space technology company founded by Tesla CEO, Neuralink co-founder & Twitter owner Elon Musk aggressively declares himself a champ like WWE Hall of Famer, former 6-time WWE Champion, 2-time WWE Intercontinental Champion, 2-time WWE United States Champion, 5-time WWE Tag Team Champion & NWA World Tag Team Champion Stone Cold Steve Austin.

The track “Reap What You Sow” pushes towards the conclusion of Hatton Garden Holdup boasting that his money so big to the point where he can’t fold it on top of seeing shit that made his heart freeze as a result of him never selling his soul with the tons of dope during his street days & finally, “Heavy Traffic” finishes Rome’s masterpiece by hopping over 1 more boom bap beat to paint images of the gangsta lifestyle.

Most people who’ve been keeping up with me throughout of the year probably know I have Benny the Butcher’s latest Def Jam debut Everybody Can’t Go as my favorite album of 2024 & as I had expected, Hatton Garden Holdup surpasses. From the perfectly articulate lyricism that Rome Streetz is known for to Daringer’s signature production & the high-profile guests, all 3 factors combined make for a perfect 42 minute listening experience.

Score: 5/5

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Stove God Cook$ – “Stop Callin’ Me, I’m Cookin’” review

This is the 2nd EP from Syracuse, New York emcee Stove God Cook$. A protégé of Roc Marciano, the latter produced Stovey’s highly acclaimed full-length debut Reasonable Drought in March 2020 right when the COVID-19 lockdowns began. He signed to Griselda Records not too long after & released his debut EP If These Kitchen Walls Could Talk a year & a half later. However he’s surprise-releasing Stop Callin’ Me, I’m Cookin’ ahead of his Griselda debut Stove Jesus & even an album produced by Stoupe the Enemy of Mankind.

“Earl the Pearl” is a soulful boom bap opener produced by Cool & Dre talking about dead rappers getting more life when their eyes are closed whereas “E$co Chipper” continues to chop up the soul samples showing disgust towards his competition. “Marvin Ye” works the kicks & snares back in likening himself as a mix between Marvin Gaye & Ye formerly known as Kanye West while “The Glove” after the “$ocrates” skit goes drumless again to talk about being amongst the illest. “Ba$eline Hov” has this chipmunk soul flare to the beat getting on his hustler shit & “Chapo Phone” sumptuously  talks about being a don.

Stove God to me is an extraordinarily generational talent & I’m confident that will be getting a sequel to Stop Callin’ Me, I’m Cookin’ at some point near future, considering the fact that this is only Side A but what we have here nevertheless has to be amongst the best EPs I’ve heard in this year. The soulfully drumless/boom bap production matched with Stovey’s immaculate Coke raps increase anticipation for Stove Jesus & the Stoupe-produced album, as will Side B.

Score: 4.5/5

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Benny the Butcher – “Buffalo Butch” review

This is the 8th EP from Buffalo, New York emcee Benny the Butcher. Being in the game for 2 decades already, it wouldn’t be until 2016 where he alongside his cousins Westside Gunn & Conway the Machine would take the culture by storm off projects like Tana Talk 3 & The Plugs I Met. Harry Fraud came in for a sequel to the latter following the mature Burden of Proof & finally, Tana Talk 4 took it back to the basement a couple years back. Coming off having Hit-Boy produce half of it & leaving the other half to The Alchemist produce his Def Jam Recordings debut & my album of the year so far Everybody Can’t Go, we’re now being treated to Buffalo Butch only a couple weeks after the previous EP Summertime Butch.

“Penny & Shaq” featuring 38 Spesh starts off the brief 3 track offering hopping over an extravagant beat comparing themselves to Orlando Magic veterans Penny Hardaway & Shaquille O’Neal whereas the For All the Dogs outtake “Buffalo” featuring Drake finds the pair linking up over a sample-driven instrumental from Boi-1da talking about the fact that it’s more when you earn it being iller than the illnesses haters be wishing on them. Lastly, the closer “Hard Way” featuring Fabolous officially rounds out Buffalo Butch on some boom bap shit letting it be known this fly shit ain’t cheap whatsoever.

We’ve only gotten 2 EPs from Benny this month & 3 projects from him in 2024 altogether if you include Everybody Can’t Go, but I still happen to prefer Summertime Butch only because it’s a little longer than Buffalo Butch although that’s not to say I didn’t enjoy the 3 songs he dug up for us here. As opposed to the summer theme of the joint from 2 weeks ago, you only get 8 minutes worth of material shedding 16 minutes off the last one centering itself around Benny’s hometown mentality.

Score: 3.5/5

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Benny the Butcher – “Summertime Butch” review

Buffalo, New York emcee Benny the Butcher putting out his 7th EP full of summer anthems. Being in the game for 2 decades already, it wouldn’t be until 2016 where he alongside his cousins Westside Gunn & Conway the Machine would take the culture by storm off projects like Tana Talk 3 & The Plugs I Met. Harry Fraud came in for a sequel to the latter following the mature Burden of Proof & finally, Tana Talk 4 took it back to the basement a couple years back. Coming off having Hit-Boy produce half of it & leaving the other half to The Alchemist produce his Def Jam Recordings debut & my album of the year so far Everybody Can’t Go, we’re now being treated to Summertime Butch.

“1 Verse Butch” starts us off with the Butcher over a piano/boom bap hybrid speaking that slick, street, intellectual drug shit whereas the soulfully dusty “The Most” talks about making it out of the hood alive & taking a lot for him for that to even happen. After the “Sundress & Sandle Season” interlude, “Knightfall” keeps the kicks & snares in tact advising not to let any static stop your business & the only single “Summer ‘24” gives off a symphonic boom bap flare instrumentally looking to shut the block down.

My favorite track here “Kitchen Table” hops over a smooth Harry Fraud beat continuing to discuss the dope game & after the “Peachtree” interlude, “The Blue Building” brings the soul vibes back in the fold mixed with hi-hats from STREETRUNNER playing more than simply a distributor role. “The Warehouse 3” featuring Elcamino, Fuego Base & Rick Hyde is this guitar-laced successor to both “Warehouse” tracks off Fuego’s debut Biggest Since Camby & “Higher” luxuriously ends the EP taking y’all to a greater level.

Everybody Can’t Go still remains my album of the year so far 8 months later & yet, Summertime Butch still stands out on its own going for a completely different vibe than the Def Jam debut did at the very beginning of 2024 telling us the biggest lesson Benny’s learned. The balance between boom bap & trap remains prevalent, he’s simply giving us 24 minutes & 8 songs for you to enjoy with only little time left of summer itself.

Score: 3.5/5

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Jay Worthy – “Magic Hour” review

This is the 5th mixtape from Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada born albeit Compton, California raised emcee Jay Worthy. Coming on my radar in 2017 after The Alchemist produced his debut EP Fantasy Island from top to bottom, he would go onto drop 5 more EPs & a fantastic collab album with Larry June called 2 P’z in a Pod even though initial plans of putting it out through Griselda Records fell through for whatever reason. Harry Fraud produced You Take the Credit, We’ll Take the Check & DJ Muggs did What They Hittin’ 4 to significant acclaim, but the Roc Marciano-produced Nothing Bigger Than the Program was still good despite having too many features. Once I heard DāM-FunK was producing Magic Hour top to bottom, I was hoping it would surpass the predecessor from 14 months ago.

“San Dimas” featuring G Perico starts off on some flawless g-funk shit asking if you’re turned the fuck in at this point whereas “Westside” delves further into the relax & organic sound featuring live instrumentation, use of P-Funk samples & high-pitched synth lines to represent California to the fullest. “Rich Today” embraces the g-funk sound heavier talking about how it ain’t nothing to a pimp like him just before “Boogie” featuring the late Nate Dogg’s son NHale builds upon Nate’s sound that he was the King of spitting that g shit continuing his dad’s tradition.

Meanwhile on “Can’t Do That”, we have Worthy mellowly slickly talking about being on his MJ shit & on a new bag at this point in his career ahead of the spacious g-funk banger “105 West” featuring Channel Tres, DJ Quik & Ty$ for all the party people to slide to. “It’s So Hard” featuring Obsce Chill keeping the gangsta funk alive staying in the ghetto like Too $hort explaining the hardships of being a g, but then “Untouchable” featuring P-Lo futuristically advises that this joint in particular is exclusively for the playas.

After the “Olde 8 Again” interlude, “Heartstop” featuring Channel Tres goes into synth-funk turf explaining that their hearts legitimately stop when they don’t get to see one another while the beat on “Connected” featuring Barney Bones gives me Rainbow Road Mario Kart vibes instrumentally flexing the ties they have. “Bounce” featuring Soopafly takes you a whole millennium head to the future for a joint to the west to bounce to while the g-funk track “Watch Your Tone” advises to do simply that around them.

“Caught Up” heavily builds itself around synthesizers as a way of nearing the conclusion of Magic Hour while “Let You Go” featuring $ha Hef brings the East/West emcees together over a g-funk beat breaking the news to their significant others that they’re cutting off romantic ties with one another going forward. Last but not least, “Can’t Fade the Funk” ends the album charmingly gets self-explanatory for 1 last song showing P dabbling in DāM’s production style.

It was a bit disappointing that Nothing Bigger Than the Program was overloaded with features considering that Marci proved his status as a underrated producer on Marciology earlier on in the year but anyway, I’m finding myself preferring Magic Hour more in comparison. DāM-FunK’s production as one would expect fully embraces the g-funk sound Dr. Dre popularized in the 90s & conceptually, Jay’s paying homage to the roots of west coast hip hop in a modern way.

Score: 4/5

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