Tag: Honor B4 Money Records

Papoose – “Bars on Wheels: A Journey to Save Hip Hop” review

Brooklyn, New York emcee & songwriter Papoose back with his 13th EP. Emerging under the mentorship of the late Streetsweepers Entertainment founder DJ Kayslay, he would go onto release 25 mixtapes building up towards his full-length debut The Nacimera Dream during my sophomore year of high school. Both entries of the Hoodie Season duology would later come in preparation for the sophomore effort You Can’t Stop Destiny couple months succeeding my high school graduation, with Back 2 the Streets & Underrated alongside Food for Thought & Endangered Species all following. He announced Bars on Wheels: A Journey to Save Hip Hop earlier this week & it’s up on DSPs, coming off all 12 of the 2021 extended plays.

“Need for Speed” works in a drumless soul sample to get things going talking about not slowing down killin’ his competition & once “Big 3” takes the boom bap route instrumentally making French Toast out of puttin’ bread on these eggheads, “I Said What I Said” finishes up the 1st half maintaining a dusty vibe talking about wack muhfuckas flipping his spaz mode switch making a spooky return to the lab.

To kick off the 2nd leg, “Chill Button” justifiably speaks of residence in hip hop being where all the most notable names are sitting at the throne & making positive back-to-back business moves while “Fentanyl” drumlessly talks about the increasing deaths linked to opioids like the Season 2 premiere of Smiling Friends on April Fool’s Day 2024 had pointed out. The closer “Counting Green” featuring Busta Rhymes & Cuhdeejah finishes with a lively outro dedicated to stacking his chips.

As much as I highly respect Papoose’s lyrical technicality, I can’t say Bars on Wheels: A Journey to Save Hip Hop will go down to be one of the best EPs he’s ever made although the culture is very much evolving as time goes on rather than being in a position where it needs to be saved. Sean 2Miles’ production on here is merely average compared to Brady Watt’s on Endangered Species during the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic, but hardcore fans of Pap’s penmanship will enjoy it a lot more than others normally would.

Score: 3/5

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Papoose – “Endangered Species” review

Papoose is a 42 year old MC from New York City who rose to fame by dropping a slew of mixtapes throughout the 2000s. His full-length debut The Nacirema Dream finally saw the light of day in 2013, which was followed up with You Can’t Stop Destiny in 2015 & then Underrated at the beginning of last year. However, Papoose has decided to enlist Brady Watt to produce a bulk of his 4th full-length album over here.

The album kicks off with “Billionaire”, where Papoose talks about getting a big bag out of this rap shit before time runs out over some keyboards & organs with the drums popping in midway through while the next track “Boxcutter” talks about having the deadliest pen of them all over a deadly boom bap beat. The song “Cobra Scale” brags about how he’s living over a harp loop while the track “Kickback” with Conway the Machine & French Montana sees the 3 spitting battle bars over a luxurious instrumental.

“The Human Body (The Brain)” is a full-blown science lesson with a dystopian beat while the song “COVID-19” gives a run-down of the ongoing pandemic backed by a ghostly instrumental. The track “Maturity” pays tribute to his wife Remy Ma over some piano chords while the song “Hate Be Real” talks about those who’re envious of him over a rock inspired beat.

The following track is a killer sequel to Numerical Slaughter” accompanied by some strings while the song “Antidote” compares his raps to just that over a whimsical beat. The penultimate track “Workin'” over an creepy instrumental from DJ Premier & then the closer “Tribute” pretty much freestyles over 50 Cent’s “Many Men (Wish) Death” paying homage to those who were murdered by corrupt cops.

This dude’s last 3 albums have been either hit or miss with me personally, but I think this might be his best one to date. The production on here is a lot more consistent to my surprise & Papoose’s lyrical talents are still as off the way as they were when he first came up.

Score: 3.5/5