Lee Scott – “La Scala” review

Here we have the 9th EP from Runcorn, Cheshire, England, United Kingdom emcee, producer & author Lee Scott. Introducing himself through The Wrong Bootleg Demo & the full-length debut Put on the Glasses over a decade ago under his own label Blah Records, some may even recognize him for his memberships with the Antiheroes, the B-Movie Millionaires, the Children of the Damned, Cult Mountain, the Cult of the Damned, Group, HAPPYPPL, Hock Tu Down, the Mcabre Brothers, Nobodies Home & the Supergang. Peppered Mouth Soup & Happy Sellout Shit were ok, but the sophomore effort Stupid Poignant Shit produced by Illinformed would become his most celebrated work following it up with Tin Foil Fronts as well as CactusOwlMoonGoat & the High Focus Records-backed Butter Fly being another favorite of mine. Nice Swan would become as beloved although Supergod5000plus & Oh, the Fun We’re Having weren’t as good as that or Lou Reed 2000 or Somewhere Between Here & There. I felt like Friend, Come to Me & Be Saved was alright, coming off Gates Click Shutalong with There’s a Reason for Everything & To Tame a Dead Horse to drop the self-produced La Scala.

“Cabin Roof” begins with a boom bap instrumental Lee made himself confirming Cult Mountain’s disbandment due to Milkavelli scamming people whereas “Acme Point” talks about not wanting to hear any bullshit. “Starfish” speaks of having no time for chit chat if it has nothing to do with the rhyme or if it doesn’t match the money on his mind while “Next Door” asks himself why the individual he’s thinking of wants to be exactly like him & the rest of the Cult.

The song “Merry Karma” continues the final moments of La Scala by giving the B-Movie Millionaires a few minutes in the spotlight responding to people telling them they need to slow down when they’ve only gotten on the road while “Intrusive Thoughts” talks about being too old to play the nuisance & make excuses, yet he still does & will continue to do so. “Cathedral Breeze” finishes by going for a more compositional approach, taking a backseat vocally so he can whip up a ghostly boom bap beat clocking at 72 seconds.

Marking a conclusion to his most recent solo output using these kind of tempos, Lee Scott writes & self-produces another hardcore philosophical ignorant UK hip hop extended play. His production focuses around the boom bap elements There’s a Reason for Everything had ditching the secondary influences of drumless & chipmunk soul for a 17 minute statement primarily themed around what he can only describe as an insatiable & sometimes inadvertently destructive compulsion he has to create.

Score: 4/5

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Lee Scott – “There’s a Reason for Everything” review

Lee Scott is a 38 year old MC & producer from Runcorn, Cheshire, England, United Kingdom introducing himself through The Wrong Bootleg Demo & the full-length debut Put on the Glasses over a decade ago under his own label Blah Records. Some may even recognize him for his memberships with the Antiheroes, the B-Movie Millionaires, the Children of the Damned, Cult Mountain, the Cult of the Damned, Group, HAPPYPPL, Hock Tu Down, the Mcabre Brothers, Nobodies Home & the Supergang. Peppered Mouth Soup & Happy Sellout Shit were ok, but the sophomore effort Stupid Poignant Shit produced by Illinformed would become his most celebrated work following it up with Tin Foil Fronts as well as CactusOwlMoonGoat & the High Focus Records-backed Butter Fly being another favorite of mine. Nice Swan would become as beloved although Supergod5000plus & Oh, the Fun We’re Havingweren’t as good as that or Lou Reed 2000 or Somewhere Between Here & There. I felt like Friend, Come to Me & Be Saved was alright & he’s giving us his 8th EP almost 23 months since Gates Click Shut.

The self-produced “Views Through the Palisade Fence” turns his neighbor’s latest plot into Salem’s lot over this silky beat whereas “It’s Not Cricket” takes the boom bap route instrumentally lets the crowd know he wants to see their hands from the front to the back. “Raleigh Lizard” goes drumlessly talking about the wind being foreboding & traveling by foot until his bike’s fixed while the dusty, lo-fi “Long Gone Johnny” boasts his autobiography reads back to front.

“Council Home Linoleum” gets the 2nd half of There’s a Reason for Everything going advising not to worry about a thing just before “Ambassador Rum” takes a laidback boom bap approach talking about being everything they say you shouldn’t be, including a witty Jedi Mind Tricks bar during the final verse. “Dole Jelly Pot” suggests bringing a water pistol to a fire fight might be a right decision over a soulful sample & “Worra Day” ends with him talking about the best you’re gonna get isn’t a whole lot.

I Can’t Figure Out How I Figured It All Out was alright & Ffsman wound up being a little better, but There’s a Reason for Everything makes up for the mixed reception of both those extended plays with Lee Scott making one that tops Gates Click Shut joining the likes of Stupid Poignant Shit & Butter Fly in being some of the Blah Records founder’s finest material. There are much less features than his most recent output, saving more room for his razor-sharp wordplay & handling the production solely by himself.

Score: 4/5

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Jehst – “Mork Calling Orson” review

Jehst is a 43 year old graffiti writer, MC & producer from Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, England, United Kingdom introducing himself by dropping an EP called Premonitions through his own label YNR Productions based out of London. He would go on to drop High Plains Drifter along with his debut album The Return of the Drifter & the sophomore effort Falling Down under the Leeds imprint Low Life Records, following the latter up with the Mengi Bus mixtape & the Nuke Proof Suitextended play. The Dragon of an Ordinary Familyas well as Billy Green’s Dead & Heathens would all come out independently as a result of Low Life’s collapse, returning for his 5th studio LP.

“Cornerstone” starts with this symphonic boom bap beat produced by Sonnyjim talking about being a foundation of the UK hip hop movement when there are no lies being spoken whereas “You” works in some pianos admitting he doesn’t give a fuck regarding this person who isn’t anything like him whatsoever. The self-produced “Footsteps” takes a jazzier boom bap approach instrumentally becoming unsure in the midst of finding his way back home while “Lonely World” featuring SINDYSMAN finds the 2 talking about finding hope over a Sam Zircon beat.

Meanwhile on “Wild Herb”, we have Jehst exploring a bit of a g-funk sound for a look inside of his kaleidoscope leading into “Doctor” talking about life getting lonely without having anyone to hold down & him getting older. “Daily Planet” featuring Confucius MC finds the 2 linking up so they can observe the insanity occurring every single day just before “Flight to L.A.” embraces a more soulful sound thanks to Beat Butcha talking about wanting to hit up the west coast.

“Autumn Nights” featuring Confucius MC drumlessly reunites the pair to discuss making something out of nothing being a part of their daily lives while “1 Horse Town” featuring both Confucius MC & Eva Lazarus brings the trio together hoping a spot is saved in the areas they each call home. “Front Door” takes a slower approach in generally talking about looking out to find the antidote blowing ganja smoke & “Skylines” stripping the drums 1 last time asking who’s to blame for the thoughts polluting his brain.

Heavily sampling the Paramount Skydance Corporation owned sitcom Mork & Mindy, the YNR Productions founder continues to unlock Jehst’s superpower of making the melancholic incisively slice through all before him revisiting topics he’s explored in the past broken down from a brand new perspective. The production’s more jazzier & boom bap instead of continuing the experimentations of Billy Green’s Dead, employing a slower flow & reaching a typically supreme standard of syllables & similes over 2 decades later.

Score: 4/5

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Jehst – “Heathens” review

Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, England, United Kingdom graffiti writer, MC & producer Jehst dropping his 4th EP. Introducing himself by releasing an EP called Premonitions through his own label YNR Productions based out of London. He would go on to drop High Plains Drifter along with his debut album The Return of the Drifter & the sophomore effort Falling Down under the Leeds imprint Low Life Records, following the latter up with the Mengi Bus mixtape & the Nuke Proof Suit extended play. Coming off The Dragon of an Ordinary Family as well as the experimental Billy Green’s Dead, he’s compiling 4 tracks ahead of his next LP.

The title track gives off a dusty boom bap suggesting the younger artists must’ve thought he was born yesterday whereas “420 Every Day” works in a horn sample to talk about smoking weed daily. “State of the Union” gets the 2nd half of Heathens going with my favorite track here, hopping over a boom bap instrumental from Pitch 92 to letting off shots using his pen & “Body Bag” wraps things up angrily asking if anyone’s looking for a war they can’t win.

I believe there’s a good chance High Plains Drifterwill always remain my favorite EP in Jehst’s discography, but I’d have to rank Heathens as the weakest of the 4 placing it behind Nuke Proof Suit & Premonitions. However, I don’t want to mislead anyone into thinking I’m trying to call this wack when it’s one of the more average entries in his catalog. His penmanship isn’t an issue, although the production dividing itself between boom bap & the experimentations of Billy Green’s Dead could’ve been stronger than I hoped for.

Score: 3/5

Lee Scott – “Lou Reed 2000” review

This is the 7th studio LP from Runcorn, Cheshire, England, United Kingdom emcee, producer & author Lee Scott. Introducing himself through The Wrong Bootleg Demo & the full-length debut Put on the Glasses over a decade ago under his own label Blah Records, some may even recognize him for his memberships with the Antiheroes, the B-Movie Millionaires, the Children of the Damned, Cult Mountain, the Cult of the Damned, Group, HAPPYPPL, Hock Tu Down, the Mcabre Brothers & Nobodies Home. Peppered Mouth Soup & Happy Sellout Shit were ok, but the sophomore effort Stupid Poignant Shit produced by Illinformed would become his most celebrated work following it up with Tin Foil Fronts as well as CactusOwlMoonGoat & the High Focus Records-backed Butter Fly being another favorite of mine. Nice Swan would become as beloved although Supergod5000plus & Oh, the Fun We’re Having were alright. He’s wrapping up 2018 however producing a great deal of Lou Reed 2000 homaging The Velvet Underground’s late frontman of the same name.

After the “Lou Lives” intro, the self-produced title track begins with him talking about turning negatives into positives despite everything in his life being shit whereas “Rocket Fuel” produced by Nobodies Home talks about today not being great yet it’s alright because there’s always yesterday. “Bad Foot Forward” featuring King Grubb finds the pair asking why people are pushing them around & flippin’ a cough on this battery operated machine while “Me Alone” talks about starting a riot because the damage is done.

“Mid Afternoon” continues the 2nd half of the album talking about not having a dream & occasionally waking up in the middle of the afternoon looking to get some food inside him sooner rather than later if after “Foneline ‘06” featuring King Grubb expresses a desire to call someone who doesn’t even call them anymore, “Colossal Jones” featuring Jam Baxter talks about confusing people’s 6th senses & it taking more than a stretch of marble pillars to hold their tongues.

The track “Next Stop” opens up about him constantly thinking of all the things he doesn’t want to do & sending the whole world on a “fuck you” note while the final song “Fuck U Save Me” featuring Sadhugold the “Lou Lives II” outro spends the last few minutes of the full-length with both of them lyrically getting in their hardcore bags, commending some for impressing them the way they take this joke called life so seriously & being nothing like the artists comparing themselves to him.

All 3 of the extended plays Lee Scott has dropped post-Butter Fly still have their share of notable moments despite not considering them to be on par, but Lou Reed 2000 is definitely the most I’ve enjoyed his solo material in a couple years. The production primarily handled by Lee himself with live instrumentation from his Nobodies Home companion Jack Chard occasionally chops up some samples to spend a bulk of the half hour exploring a varied range of sounds from jazz rap to lo-fi hip hop & boom bap cutting down the guest appearances to only a select few for a 30 minute collection of thought provokingly sad philosophical ignorant rap.

Score: 4/5