JL – “The Devil Hates Sundays” review

This is the brand new album from Missouri emcee JL, who started out as a member of the B. Hood crew before signing to Strange Music in 2015. His full-length debut on the label D.I.B.K.I.S. (Do It Big Keep It Strange) that came out a few years ago was a proper introduction to the Strange fanbase & I really liked that Kontra-Band collab effort he did with Stevie Stone in 2018 too. But after teasing new music for quite some time now, JL’s officially back with The Devil Hates Sundays.

After the intro, the first song “Silver” makes numerous references to the titular color over an organ-inflicted boom bap beat from MIKE SUMMERS a.k.a. 7 (who produced about half the album) whereas the track “Sunday Morning” with Marley Young finds the 2 comparing them & their significant others to Adam & Eve over a euphoric beat. The song “Means to an End” with Tech N9ne sees both spitters talking about doing anything for better luck over a trap beat with some bells while the track “Ask for It” with LeezoSTG & Maez301 finds the trio talking about giving their significant others anything they want over a rubbery instrumental.

The song “Ahh Haa” talks about being high over a hyphy beat from Wyshmaster while the track “Who Raised You?” talks about how they don’t make ‘em like this over a beat with some bells & a background singer humming. The song “Flashing Out” is filled with clever Hollywood references over a cavernous instrumental from Dominique Sanders while the track “That’s Him” with Joey Cool displays an impeccable chemistry with one another over a monstrous beat.

The song “Sleep on Me” with Krizz Kaliko sees the 2 talking about being underrated over a bleak instrumental while the track “Petty Bop” does a good job of living up to it’s name both lyrically & sonically. The song “Common Sense” talks about him being one of a kind over a cloudy beat while the track “Coming Down” talks about being off of the high over a woodwind-infused beat.

The song “SOS” talks about being too far gone over a dense beat while the track “Voices” with Jehry Robinson sees the 2 talking about the internal conflict within them over a desolate beat. The song “MIA” talks about getting to the money over a woozy instrumental while the track “Moonwalker” links up with Suli4Q & the CES Cru finds the 4 talking about revenge over a somewhat quirky beat.

The song “If I Wasn’t” with Saigon & Starrz finds the 3 painting scenarios of where they’d be if they never made it in the rap game over an intoxicating instrumental while the penultimate track “Bat Shit Crazy” talks about his boo being as wild as him over a sensual beat. The album finishes with “Inner Demons”, where JL apologizes for how he is over an instrumental with some slick guitar-playing.

Overall, I think this is JL’s best work date. There are a couple of features that I personally could’ve done without, but the lyrics on here are at his most introspective with the religious theme only enhancing it & the production fitting each cut like a glove.

Score: 3.5/5

Stevie Stone & JL – “Kontra-Band” review

With the release of Stevie Stone‘s 5th album Level Up & JL‘s Strange Music debut DIBKIS last summer, the 2 are now coming together for a full-length collab album. Things start off with “Groomed by the Block”, where the duo talk about their come up over an eerie instrumental. However, the PHresher verse at the tail-end was pretty generic to me. The next song “Lessons” talks about learning from all their losses in life over a laidback trap beat while the track “Trappin’ On the Hill” reflects on their drug dealing days over a gritty instrumental. The song “Too High Today” is a weed anthem with a gloomy trap beat from Seven & the track “She’s So Fly” is a decent love tune with a reggae-inspired instrumental.

The song “I Was Ready” sees the 2 going back & forth about being prepared for the feds over a piano instrumental while the track “Envy” is a message to their haters over some a cloudy backdrop with some rattling hi-hats. The song “Not One of Them” with Tech N9ne sees the 3 talking about hoes over a gloomy beat & the track “Boss Sauce” gets braggadocious over some monstrous bass. The song “Miles Davis” with Joey Cool sees the 3 ambitiously talking about success & the MIKE SUMMERS a.k.a. 7 instrumental is ok too, but the hook is too repetitive for me.

The track “Pluto” talks about realizing someone wasn’t who they thought they were over a spacey beat from Suli4Q & while the song “Cautious” is an aggressive & rapidly delivered message to the haters, the Flawless Real Talk verse is just average. The track “Bad Habits” with Krizz Kaliko talks about how everything will be ok in the end over some bass with a piano in the background & the Navé Monjo hook isn’t too bad either. The standard edition closer “Only a Man” is a reflection of where the duo are at now with a beautiful Adrian Truth hook & Suli4Q instrumental while the pre-order track “What You Gon’ Do” gets braggadocious over an haunting instrumental.

While I wasn’t expecting this, I did enjoy the album at the end of the day. Some of the features could’ve been better but the production mostly bangs, the song topics are delivered passionately & there’s quite a bit of chemistry between Stevie Stone’s huskiness & JL’s charismatic yet sharp lyricism. If they ever decide to make a follow-up in the future, then I’d be all for it

Score: 3.5/5

JL – “D.I.B.K.I.S. (Do It Big, Keep It Strange)” review

After being affiliated with Strange Music for several years, Kansas City emcee JL finally signed with the independent hip hop powerhouse in 2015 & is now releasing his first album with them. The opener “Strange the World” has a killer rap rock beat & given the title of the track, JL does not disappoint. The next song “2 Up” with Strange founder Tech N9ne talks about being 2 brackets above everyone else & while I do enjoy verses as well as the heavy bass in the production, the execution of the hook could’ve been much better. The track “Own Thang” originally appeared on Tech’s last non-Collabos album The Storm back when it first came out back in December & it’s just as great as it was then from the stereotype topic to MIKE SUMMERS a.k.a. 7’s hard hitting production. The song “Hate Nature” addresses all the haters out there & 7’s production fits JL’s aggressive delivery like a glove. The track “Out Da Hood” is basically about going from rags to riches over a hyphy beat & the guest verse from Nef the Pharaoh isn’t too bad either. The song “Saturday” with Tech as well as The Popper & Marlon Young is a club banger, but it just feels redundant to me. The track “Risky” talks about sex over a spacey beat & while he does it cleverly, the hook from Navé Monjo is just ok. The song “Catch a Wave” with Joey Cool talks about grinding & I absolutely love how it starts off with some ominous strings. The keyboards on here are pretty nice, too. The track “Password” is yet another club banger just like the previously mentioned “Saturday”, but this one goes WAY harder. Not just because of ¡MAYDAY!’s production, but JL changes his flow near the end of both verses very cohesively. The song “Technology” with Tech N9ne talks about sexual activity via technology (hence the title) & both of them do it very creatively. Especially with the reference to the classic Zapp track “Computer Love” right before Tech’s verse. The perfectly titled “Fuck Everything” is pretty much JL angrily going at every single thing from clubs to excuses & while one may complain about the excessive use of the word “fuck”, I personally think it’s an abrasive track. The track “Done to Me” vents about a breakup & I like how the guitar matches the sincere vibe that’s being given off. The song “Propaganda” sees JL getting conscious & there are some really cool DJ scratches going on in the background throughout the duration of the track. The penultimate track “Elevation” talks about being stressed then eventually making it & between the guest verses from Joey Cool along with Emilio Rojas & Krizz Kaliko, I felt that Krizz had the best flow of the 3 despite the mediocre PlayStation simile that pops in a little bit after his verse starts. The album then closes out with “This Time”, where JL’s passionately spitting about how thankful he is that his time isn’t up yet as well as how he feels right at home with Strange Music over a beat from 7 that has an fittingly ambitious vibe to it. There’s also a pre-order track to this thing called “Everywhere”, which pretty much brags about success & the production from The Dead Beatz is just THUNDEROUS! If you ask me, this could very well be JL’s best work yet. His lyricism & delivery are on point like it’s always been & the production is probably the hardest set of beats he’s ever had. I’ve always felt that this cat is very underappreciated & the fact that Tech N9ne is giving him proper exposure with this album makes me very happy for both parties, because this dude really is gonna be Strange’s next big artist