Datkid – “Confessions of a Crud Lord” review

Bristol, England, United Kingdom emcee Datkid officially making his debut for High Focus Records debut with the 4th studio LP in his discography. Beginning as a part of the Split Prophets, he began embarking on a solo career in the summer of 2011 off Dkay n Gramma & the subsequent sophomore effort called Home by 8 a little over 8 months later. Coming off Teeth Ledger however, Real Life Drama Records co-founder Leaf Dog of The 4 Owls being picked to fully produce Confessions of a Crud Lord had it shaping up to be the most important entry of Datkid’s individual catalog a week after Aussie Open became the new RPW British Tag Team Champions.

“Fire in My Belly” opens up with a boom bap intro talking about his opponents being worse actors than the entire cast of modern day EastEnderswhereas “Myth” marks the return of the all-time dirtiest continuing to make history 2 decades later. “Crud Addict” issues a warning that he’s the very last person one should be bringing drama to just before “The Chosen One” keeps things in the basement instrumentally talking about being prophetic.

To kick off the 2nd quarter, “I’m Nice” hooks up a grungy sample so he can talk about keeping his focus toward bringing his audience some crud for them to bump prior to “Briefcase” featuring Westside Gunn handcuffing suitcases to their wrists referencing 2-time WWE Hall of Famer, 4-time WWE world champion, WWE Intercontinental Champion, 6-time WWE tag team champion & the newest writer/producer of their developmental NXT brand Shawn Michaels.

“Lord Give Me Patience” takes a moment to ask God to grant him perseverance & searching for a sign because he’s getting hungrier the more time goes faster while “Heroin” eerily promises that he can rap around his opposition on his tiptoes if he really wanted to. “Eyes” featuring Conway the Machine begins the 2nd half wanting to smoke weed & count money over a piano mixed with kicks & snares while “Money & Dip” dives deeper down the mafioso rabbit hole.

Roc Marciano joins Datkid for “Scheme On” talking about what their backup plan is if their music careers don’t pan out the way they hope it will & Marc explaining that people will go the way wind blows because they have no loyalty but once “Blank Page goes for an orchestral boom bap vibe wanting to bring life to his notebook by using his pen to write rhymes, “Grown Up” soulfully finds himself caught in the middle of Commissioner Gordons & 2-Faces from the Warner Bros. subsidiary DC Entertainment owned Batman franchise.

The song “Cook Book” nears Confessions of a Crud Lord’s final moments whippin’ some gourmet & coming out claim his stake while the penultimate track “Crud Lord” shifts towards a funky boom bap direction to the beat essentially breaking down his position as a boss of his own style that he calls “crud”. Taking up the last few minutes, “Hoes” wraps it all up by setting out to rule the money out of greed & have women surrounding him.

High Focus Records has been heralding Datkid’s inaugural opus under the Hove, East Sussex imprint to be the grimiest musical statement in the label’s entire discography almost a decade after it’s formation & I can’t even complain with that statement now that Confessions of a Crud Lord has arrived in full since the Split Prophets member’s greatest entry of his solo catalog comfortably fits up in the ranks of that discourse. Leaf Dog’s cooks up amongst the dirtiest production of his career & Bristol’s finest reminds the world why he’s amongst the UK’s most proficient lyricists.

Score: 4.5/5

Onoe Caponoe – “Surf or Die” review

Brand new album & the 3rd overall from London, England, United Kingdom emcee/producer Onoe Caponoe. Introducing himself in the early 2010s off his debut mixtape Central Control as well as Willows Midnight Gallery & Holy Mountain, it wasn’t until The Staircase to Nowhere caught the attention of High Focus Records & made his full-length debut for the label with Voices from Planet Cattele during my senior year of high school. Spells from the Cyclops continued Onoe’s evolution & had me hoping Surf or Die.

After the introductory skit, the first song “Suicide City” begins with a mix of Bionic from the London Posse & early Pro Era kicking flows over a nostalgic boom bap beat whereas “Red Planet” goes for a more cloudy Memphis trap vibe inciting an intergalactic mosh pit. “Ms. Universe” feels instrumentally reminiscent of A Tribe Called Quest’s late 90s output telling the woman he’s been seeing that he can make the stars shine while “Blood Moon (City Hunt)” shifts treads the trap waters again discussing 169 coming through the back door.

“Valentine’s Massacre” returns the boom bap after the compositional “Carnival of Souls (Hypno Pop)” piece abstractly referencing the murder of seven members & associates of Chicago, Illinois’ notorious North Side Gang just before “Graveyard Funk” shows off a bit of a Bone-Thugs-n-Harmony influence with a Memphis twist to it. “Behind the Wall of Sleep” talks about the good living forever & bad croaking whenever their time comes leading into “Chop ‘Em Down (Mosh of the Dead)” featuring L-Zee Roselli ending the 1st half of Surf or Die with an aggressive crunk gangsta rap fusion.

After the “Last Bittersweet Moment” instrumental intermission, “Heathers” smokily recalls a woman he met during the summertime & getting far away from people together while “Spaceship Funk / Cat on the Roof” talks about being swerved out in our solar system ahead of the spoken word outro during the 2nd half. “Raincloud” brings some jazzy piano chords in the fold speaking hearing voices in the back of his head like the Harry Potterfranchise antagonist Voldemort while the trap-flavored “Phone Call” produced by Telemachus talks about stepping out engulfed in flames.

“Crazy Cat Coffee Party” takes inspiration from jazz rap once again flexing that he’s been high in the sky & there being nobody higher than him generally while “Yellow Brix” confesses to being afraid of changing. “Lost the Love” smoothly samples “Running Out of Time” by Rexy realizing his mind’s true potential & the final song “Cymatics” prior to the “Black Sun (Love’s Key)” outro jazzily leaves a trail of flames behind when it’s time for him to go off.

Capturing the turbulence within Onoe Caponoe’s life these past couple years, I have no doubts of Surf or Die being heralded as the greatest LP in his entire discography & amongst the top 5 projects throughout High Focus Records’ most for years to come. The prominent experimental hip hop direction of Spells from the Cyclops ventures further out in favor of boom bap, jazz rap, cloud rap, Memphis rap, trap & sound collage getting a lot more lyrically abstract than what he’s done previously.

Score: 4.5/5

Dirty Dike – “Acrylic Snail” review

Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, England, United Kingdom emcee/producer Dirty Dike making his High Focus Records victory lap with his 5th solo LP. A member of Contact Play, his solo debut Bogies & Alcohol as well as the sophomore effort Constant Dikestar were both welcomed to warm reception although Return of the Twat was considered average by many in comparison. The Sloshpot EP & Sucking on Prawns in the Moonlight have since become his most celebrated work ever, coming off the latter 3 years prior for Acrylic Snail.

After the “Playground” intro, we have Dike jumping over this EDM instrumental from Telemachus for the opener “Permanent Midnight” talking about snatching microphones out people’s hands because he’s giving 0 fucks whereas “Whoops” featuring Jam Baxter & Rag’n’Bone Man dropping 3 hardcore verses without the need of a chorus. “Caustic Soda” uses a flow homaging the late Sean Price talking about the way he raps prior to “Whoa” featuring Lee Scott dustily sends a warning directed at people thinking of making sly moves.

“Nothing at All” maintains a boom bap vibe with some keys asking what others are gonna do regarding him budging all the rules just before “Still the Same James” reaches the halfway point talking about being the very same prick he was when he began making music. The self-produced “I Like My Nights Dark” featuring Jam Baxter discusses their preference of having the streets completely empty & every alleyway being their birch while “Syringe Ditch” talks about him breaking up with a woman who perceived him to be a misogynist.

Leaf Dog joins Dike on the mic during “Caterpillar Funk” flexing that shit goes down when they pop out while “Dumb” featuring Dabbla talks about the pair being comfortably ill in their own rights. “Ouch” featuring Jman & Lee Scott finds the trio fucked up bleeding out the nose but after “Sun Tan of a Pig” boasts the vallys & quids in his bum-bag over a Ghosttown beat, “Rex 01” featuring the Foreign Beggars alongside Inja & Killa P ends the album with a cool hook-less 4 minute outro.

Spending more of his time producing for other artists since Sucking on Prawns in the Moonlight, the final album under Dirty Dike’s contract with High Focus Records finishes this era of his career by making Acrylic Snail plausibly the most personal entry in his whole entire discography. Shining a light on his formative years & of course the transition between his past & present selves, he pays homage to the things he saw in the very farthest reaches of night that made him who he is today accompanied by a solid list of guests.

Score: 3.5/5

Jam Baxter – “Touching Scenes” review

London, England, United Kingdom emcee Jam Baxter of the Dead Players & Contact Play hitting us with his 5th studio LP. Signing to High Focus Records, his 2010 solo debut Rinse Out Friday / Spack Out Monday was received positively & the sophomore effort The Gruesome Features would see a lot more critical acclaim. …So We Ate Them Whole in 2014 remains amongst High Focus’ most celebrated releases ever, coming off Mansion 38 a year & a half earlier to make some Touching Scenes come to life musically.

“Guillotine” starts off with this abstract grime intro talking about the hotel staff being sick of his shit whereas “Gone” speaks of being his own boss & being remembered for eternity over a Telemachus beat. The lead single “Saliva” produced by Ghosttown talks about his eyes being detached at 4am & conveying his disappointment over the woman he’s seeing being psychotic but after the titular skit, “Right Here” talks about immortalizing a deceased loved one as a cartoon playing in the dark.

As for “Feeding Frenzy”, we have Jam likening himself to a piranha devouring its own prey & seeing crimson faces flicker neon green with envy while the 3rd & final single “S.S.A. (Strong Swimmers Anonymous)” calls out hypocrites telling them what they do they’re not the ones back in their own people for tenners. After the “Burma” skit, “Know by Now” featuring Stinkin Slumrok find the 2 joining forces to talk about being slum boys who keep it crunk just before “‘Bout U” begins the 2nd half giving a fuck less regarding others.

“Mask” featuring Durrty Goodz & Rag’n’Bone Man finds the trio coming together for a heavy-hitting UK hardcore hip hop track talking about wearing ski masks on stage because they’re getting old while the 2nd single “Vulture” sends a clear message to all the culture vultures swinging at their shoulder blades. “Guilty” talks about the relatable feeling of the whole world trying to take him for a fool leading into “Unsubscribe” featuring Kae Tempest uniting the pair to discuss skinning oneself alive.

The song “Bodyslam” winds down Touching Scenes’ final moments referencing the wrestling move popularized by the inaugural IWGPヘビー級王座, former 12-time WWE world champion, WWE tag team champion & WWE Hall of Famer Hulk Hogan while “Husk II (Tale of the Possessed Pinky)” finishes with a sequel to a song off the 2nd half of …So We Ate Them Whole, recapturing the same moods of it’s predecessor 4 years earlier listening to the screams of an individual seeking wonder.

Blurring the lines between grime & abstract hip hop lyrics taking inspiration from William S. Burroughs to Young Thug surprisingly, Jam Baxter’s final offering under his High Focus Records contract finishes 1 chapter & begins a new one with the most polished statement of his entire solo career. The production goes for a more high tempo direction in comparison to Mansion 38, sounding more evolved than that last album & further establishing Jam amongst the most gifted songwriters in the entire UK hip hop scene.

Score: 4.5/5

Pitch 92 – “Lost in Space” review

Dublin, Ireland producer Pitch 92 dropping an extended play of solo material under the Hove, East Sussex, United Kingdom imprint High Focus Records. Known for being the in-house beatsmith of The Mouse Outfit, he would go on to produce the group’s first couple full-lengths Escape Music & Step Steadier until getting to jump behind the boards throughout Verb T’s 8th album Good Evening from start to finish 11 months earlier. Commemorating the upcoming anniversary, he’s getting Lost in Space for a warmup to his own debut LP.

The title track by Confucius MC & Jehst starts off with both of them talking about the survey saying they’re both insane whereas “Plane Ticket” by Verb T smoothly speaks of his mind focusing on this very moment. “Dawn” by K S R & Sparkz takes a funkier approach to the beat talking about getting it on until the sunrise leading into the jazzy “1 Handed” composition. “Mystery” & “XPJ” finish us off with a couple more instrumental pieces, which one maintaining the jazz influences & the other going lo-fi.

Balancing his dexterity by having a cast of well-picked UK hip hop veterans to up-&-coming American artists rocking the mic during Side A of Lost in Space & taking a more compositional approach to things over the course of Side B, this EP begins a new chapter in Pitch 92’s career offering a glimpse of what he can do behind the boards showcasing the soulful Jaylib & Pete Rock-inspired sound he’d become known for a few years prior. The production accommodates each guest accordingly relying extensively on an MPC with every backdrop he uses, paving the way for a future discography of self-curated projects that’ll span out with time.

Score: 3.5/5

Ocean Wisdom – “Wizville” review

Ocean Wisdom is a 24 year old MC from Camden, London, England, United Kingdom introducing himself off the 3-track debut extended play Splittin’ the Racket in the summer of 2015 under the Hove, East Sussex underground imprint High Focus Records. Following it up 6 months later with the revered hardcore hip hop & boom bap debut album Chaos ‘93 quickly becoming a top 5 in the label’s history, he has spent the last 27 months preparing for this sophomore effort simultaneously fulfilling all of his contractual obligations for High Focus in the process a month after Jinny became the inaugural RPW British Women’s Champion.

“Eye Contact” sets it off with a boom bap intro talking about advice putting pressure on his iris whereas “Don” takes the drum & bass route instrumentally flexing that he’ll kill an MC prior to finishing his meal. “Brick or Bat” goes for a darker vibe referencing former UFC Featherweight Champion & UFC Lightweight Champion Conor McGregor prior to “Ting Dun” featuring Method Man homages “Airwaves” off RZA’s solo debut Bobby Digital in Stereo.

Illinformed jumps behind the boards for the piano-boom bap crossover “Life” talking about lonesomeness leading into the laidback “Tom & Jerry” produced by Leaf Dog make reference to the long running Warner Bros.-owned franchise of the same name whilst discussing the trials of the streets. “Righteous” featuring Rodney P & Roots Manuva chops up a soul sample to talk about the idea of righteousness itself while “Burning a Bridge” advises to get out of his way unless you want him to become militant.

“Revvin’” featuring Dizzee Rascal finds the 2 pairing up over a grime beat making a reference to Mike Russow & Todd Duffee’s fight at UFC 114 while “Deebo” likens himself to the villain of the classic hood film Friday. Starting the 2nd half, Telemachus pulls from industrial music a bit during “I Ain’t Eaten” boasting he’s more special than José Mourinho while “Swoosh” speaks of how everything’s effortless using a basketball metaphor.

P Money joins Ocean Wisdom on “Tiptronic” expressing their love for cars over a Pitch 92 instrumental while ”Flavours” talks about getting whatever he desires because of his status in the UK scene. “Less is More” featuring Jehst teams up for a dedication to keeping things simple rather than over-the-top while “Western Road” talks about the main shopping portion of Brighton where the side streets are mainly residential.

“Officer” gives it’s flowers to the iconic KRS-One single “Sound of da Police” while “Incidents” featuring Chester P talks about life with their friends growing up & the lyrics becoming increasingly darker. “Perspectives” challenges everyone to put themselves in his shoes for 24 hours & once “Menacing” salutes the late Muhammad Ali, the closer “Goostfraba FM” finishes off with a freestyle radiating that old school radio feeling.

Widely recognized for his debut single “Walkin’”spitting 4.45 words per second surpassing “Rap God” off Eminem’s 8th album The Marshall Mathers LP 2, the follow-up to Chaos ‘93 still delivers even with Wizville having slightly more flaws than Ocean Wisdom’s debut. A great deal of the grime & jazz rap production is exceptional as are the performances from Ocean & the guests, it’s simply a bit longer than I felt like it needed to be.

Score: 3.5/5

Verb T – “Good Evening” review

Dublin, Ireland beatsmith Pitch 92 from The Mouse Outfit fully producing London, England, United Kingdom emcee Verb T’s 8th solo LP. A member of The 4 Owls, he would also make his debut in mid-late 2000s off Bring It Back to Basics as well as Broken Window & Verbs with a Vengeance. These would be followed by Serious Games, which later resulted in T making his High Focus Recordsdebut with Morning Process & I Remain. Coming off The Man with the Foggy Eyes produced by Illinformed, I felt it would be exciting to hear Pitch 92 fully produce Good Evening.

“Arrived Late” begins with an organ & some kicks & snares talking about finding to the worst to define your world whereas “Getaway Car” swaps out the organ in favor of a vibraphone confessing things get eerier the more his squad travels. “Mechanical” continues the jazzy boom bap vibes talking about the understandability of living mechanically while “Possession” featuring King Kashmere speaks of this being the type of shit that sinks in slowly.

Ocean Wisdom joins T during “Lie Low” sampling “Parle Plus Blas” by Dalida sending a message to those living in fear leading into the atmospherically dusty “That Sound” talks about feeling some kind of magic in the air. “Mates Rates” featuring Black Josh, Moreone & Rye Shabby finds the quartet comparing their lyrics to gold just before the crooning “When Not To” featuring BVA & Fliptrix superiorly laughs off those snitching on themselves.

“Games” combines boom bap & funk talking about how hard it is to stay sane with everything going on in this world presently while “Sends Me Away” featuring Sparkz jazzily talks about looking for tomorrow only for it to eventually come. “Everything That You Love” turns the funkiness back up suggesting a whole tightly to everything you love me & dear to your heart while “Sugar” playfully talks about him trying to stay the same since everyone’s sweet until they begin to decay.

DRS appears on “They Say”, kicking off Good Evening’s final quarter funkily remembering the late Salford John while “Many Miles” stand happily looking back at all the things he’s done in his career. The title track featuring Confucius MC & Jehst brings the trio together advising to stay seeing what they’ve been seeing while “Break Limits” wraps it all up with a motivational outro encouraging the world not to slip & pick themselves back up.

Stretching back to the days of when Low Life Records was in it’s prime & now envisioning himself as a major part of the ever expanding High Focus Records movement, Verb T uses an outstandingly fresh batch of jazzy & funky boom bap production Pitch 92 has become known for since The Mouse Outfit was around engineered by Telemachus to pen some of the most personal songwriting of his entire career & my favorite guest appearances personally being the ones coming out of the High Focus alumni.

Score: 3.5/5

Leaf Dog – “Dyslexic Disciple” review

This is the sophomore effort from Brighton, England, United Kingdom producer/emcee Leaf Dog. Known for being amongst the best UK hip hop groups in recent memory The 4 Owls as well as the 3 Amigos & Brothers of the Stone, he eventually branched out on his own in the summer of 2011 by dropping the solo debut From a Scarecrow’s Perspective under High Focus Records to moderate reception although I enjoyed what he was going for with it. Fast forward almost 6 years later, the Dyslexic Disciple has returned a month after Zack Sabre Jr. became a 2-time RPW British Heavyweight Champion.

After the intro, “The Rain” begins with a self-produced boom bap opener talking about fulfilling prophecies with the words he’s rhyming never playing the fool until he made himself one whereas “Big Egos” basically takes jabs at artists who become full of themselves due to success. “Know Myself” gets on some introspective vibes lyrically admitting that there are times where he doesn’t even know who he is just before “Today” talks about living right from this very moment forward.

“It’s on You” works in some grungy sampling chops asking what one would do when they start to feel like this music shit was never meant for them leading into “Glass Eye” produced by Illinformed talking about things seeming to be better when he looks back at it. “All in 1” ends the 1st half of Dyslexic Disciple reminding the UK hip hop movement that his squad carved a new lane in the underground while “Pro Cultivation” featuring Smellington Piff comes together to talk about weed for the stoners including myself.

Meanwhile on “My Scene”, we have Leaf Dog welcoming everyone to the part of his native country where he’s trying to build a career for himself from the bottom up & saving pennies to get by a new day prior to “Window” jazzily catching an individual who was watching the Leigh Brothers again since he made it clear that this wasn’t the 1st time it happened. “Linguistics” hooks up a classy sample shouting out all the misfits listening while “Good Times” featuring Dabbla joins forces for a soulful anthem to play during celebratory occasions.

“Last Laugh” featuring BVA finds the Real Life Drama Records founders still giving the system’s many faces middle fingers while “The Reminder” featuring BVA & Kool Keith unites the trio so they can talk about owning hip hop to this day. “The Legacy” by The 4 Owls featuring Bill Shakes, Cracker Jon, Dirty Dike, Eric the Red, Jack Jetson, Jehst, King Kashmere, Klashnekoff, MysDiggi, Phi-Life Cypher, Remus, Smellington Piff, Sonnyjim & the Task Force sends it all off with a 7 & a half minute High Focus posse cut.

Noticeably more expansive than From a Scarecrow’s Perspective was when I had finished middle school, Dyslexic Disciple marks Leaf Dog’s return to the mic for the duration of an entire full-length & one that surpasses it’s predecessor on all fronts. He only handles a little over half of the production here than he did last time, but it feels more sonically expansive than the previous LP was & Leaf’s pen has gotten sharper since focusing on producing for other artists amassing a stacked list of local collaborators & veterans to be right beside him.

Score: 4.5/5