A.M. Early Morning & Novatore – “Kingdom of Criminality II” review

This is the 2nd collaborative album between Chicago, Illinois emcees A.M. Early Morning & Novatore. Both of whom have been turning heads in the underground for a several years now, but didn’t actually connect with each other until “Looking Back” off the latter’s Embrace the Darkness II: Explorers of Experience produced by C-Lance. They teamed up on Kingdom of Criminality produced by Stu Bangas in 2021 & are back 4 years later with Johnny Slash producing the sequel.

“Rabbit & Elephant” opens Kingdom of Criminality II with a hardcore rap rock intro with some solemnly jazzy horns talking about their return as a duo whereas “VHS” takes the boom bap route instrumentally cautioning the apocalyptic vibes when the pistols come out. “Gore Hounds” makes a dope reference to the Prince of hip hop André 3000 making New Blue Sun a flute-heavy solo debut while “Circle of Goats II” featuring Lord Goat turns up the horrorcore influences all the way for a sequel to a standout on the predecessor.

Jarren Benton joins A.M. & Novatore on “Battleground” fuses orchestral & boom bap individually discussing the violent nature of all 3 of themselves & after “Hyenas” hooks up a soul sample likening themselves to assassins ready to take you out with snipers, “Twisted Metal” homages the video game franchise TV adaption with it’s upcoming 2nd season on the Comcast Corporation subsidiary NBCUniversal-owned peacock with the franchise’s mascot being played by Samoa Joe of the current AEW World Trios Champions The Opps.

“King of the Jungle” featuring Chubs angrily expresses the struggle each of them had to endure in their lives to get in the positions they’re at now while “Smurfs” obviously sounds grittier & cutthroat than the Paramount Skydance Corporation’s upcoming reboot of the franchise starring Rihanna later this summer. “Nocturnal Predators” finishes up the LP with the pair describing themselves as being those who come out during the night to attack their prey.

Looking back when I first got into these dudes individually around the same time period, Kingdom of Criminality II lives up to the expectations. I had set out for it in terms of being another great underground hip hop collab effort. It’s refreshing to hear their chemistry still flowing tightly as it did 4 years previously & Johnny Slash’s production style seamlessly compliments Stu Bangas’ on the predecessor when we had originally entered the Kingdom of Criminality.

Score: 4.5/5

Keep up with @legendswill_never_die on Instagram & @LegendsllLiveOn on Twitter for the best music reviews weekly!

DJ Hoppa & Johnny Slash – “Shadows in Sound” review

This is a brand new collaborative LP between Panorama City deejay & producer DJ Hoppa as well as Long Beach, California producer Johnny Slash. One of whom I became a fan of during my high school years after becoming an in-house DJ/producer for Funk Volume during their heyday & the other I first heard of when G-Mo Skee freestyles over a few of his instrumentals at the end of his gaming streams. K.A.A.N. just dropped 2 back-to-back albums produced by Hoppa over the summer Delusions of Grandeur & In Due Time maintaining the acclaim of some of his more recent output, but hearing Hoppa & Slash coming together for Shadows in Sound was interesting as someone who respects both producers’ artistries.

“Damn!” by Kail Problems is this dusty boom bap opener talking about being raised rugged in a city full of broad day muggers whereas “Microdose” by Wrekonize stands as one of my favorite tracks here working in more kicks & snares realizing that he’s definitely high taking more than what was supposed to be a minimal amount. “Lost!” by K.A.A.N. proves to be another highlight keeping it boom bap & the Maryland chopper setting a heinous tone lyrically just before “Funeral Pyre” by Body Bag Ben takes it further down the basement warning that the dysfunctionalists will leave y’all in permanent tourniquets.

The instrumental on “Bullsh!t” by Marley B. kinda radiates this funky boom bap vibe to it airing out all the cap that comes his way leading into “Smoke 1st” by Coast LaContro having a bit of a jazz rap influence so Coast can provide a banger for all the smoker’s out there. “Aim” by Cole Z hooks the kicks & snares up once again cautioning that he’s got the guns blazing when he’s out here working, but then the gorgeous sampling throughout “Can’t Save Me” by Rollen Poole finds him talking about them saying he’s out his mind.

“Protect the Innocent” by Seuss Mace nears the conclusion of Shadows in Sound by layering this synth/boom bap hybrid with conscious lyricism pleading for a safer tomorrow for our children to start today & the grisly “Code Red” by Big Renz properly closes out what is set to be a promising series of collaboration efforts from DJ Hoppa & Johnny Slash coming back to work after going rogue for a month as if he never had to leave in the first place.

If you highly enjoy what both of these guys have to offer behind the boards killing it for quite some time individually as west coast bred boom bap producers & they come together for a pretty solid collaborative effort. Their production over the course of 27 minutes is absolutely flawless with the guests ranging from established veterans like Wrekonize & K.A.A.N. to up-&-comers like Seuss Mace or Broken Complex Records signees Kail Problems & Marley B., both of whom dropped a collab EP earlier this summer.

Score: 3.5/5

Keep up with @legendswill_never_die on Instagram & @LegendsllLiveOn on Twitter for the best music reviews weekly!

Canibus – “Self Licking Ice Cream Cone” review

This is the 18th full-length album Kingston emcee Canibus. Coming up as 1/2 of the duo T.H.E.M. alongside C.I. back in ‘92, they eventually split up a few years later & Bis would blow up in ‘97 after appearing on the LL Cool J song “4, 3, 2, 1” that later resulted in a beef between both parties. He would then go on to make a lengthy yet consistent discography with albums like Rip the Jacker being breathtaking at best & then Mind Control being unlistenable at worst. Now I haven’t covered Bis’ music since Kaiju which was an impressive comeback after & 6 & a half years away, but was thrilled when Johnny Slash was enlisted behind the boards for Self Licking Ice Cream Cone.

“S.L.I.C.C. (Self Licking Ice Cream Cone)” is a haunting yet raw opener to the album with Canibus talking about how y’all can’t absorb the rhymes he records whereas “Slack Jaw Fascists” is a menacing boom bap follow-up telling y’all how he thinks y’all be moving in the rap game. “Every Right Thinking American” has a more chaotic sound to it acknowledging what they call him prior to Hus Kingpin & Rock both tagging along for “The Demi-Side” to ruggedly talk about coming correct on the mic always.

Meanwhile on “Weedabuk”, we have Canibus over some synthesizers letting it be known he don’t give a fuck what people do or so leading into The HRSMN forming like Volton for the gritty “Part 2” to deliver an lyrical onslaught verse after verse after verse after verse. “He, Who Cut Down the Hemp Tree” aggressively belittles those who don’t understand the environment while the song “4 Characters” with Ab-Soul dives into trap turf talking about introducing you to your maker. The penultimate track “Press – PussyPanic Button” returns to the boom bap to get conscious until “Loyalty (Ex Rap Villain, The BKL Dylan)” with Chris Rivers, Kool G Rap & KXNG CROOKED is gully closer about allegiance.

1 Step a Closer to Infinity was just ok to me personally & I hope I don’t come off as disrespectful by saying that, but I actually happened to come away from Self Licking Ice Cream Cone considering it to be better than Kaiju & even amongst Canibus’ best albums to date. Johnny Slash’s production is more consistent than the last one & the bars that the rapping scientist hit much harder.

Score: 4.5/5

@legendswill_never_die on Instagram for the best music reviews weekly!

Novatore – “Living in the End Times” review

Novatore is a 34 year old MC from Chicago, Illinois who originally came up as a member of the Infamous Crew. He’s also built up an impressive solo career since 2015 by dropping 4 EPs & 9 albums all in that amount of time, with the previous offering Master of Morbid Creations this past spring. But for his 10th full-length over here, Novatore’s enlisting both Johnny Slash & longtime collaborator C-Lance behind the boards for such a milestone in his ever-growing discography over 2 months since former 2-time AEW World Champion CM Punk cut a shoot promo regarding his former 2-time ROH World Tag Team Champion partner in former アイアンマンヘビーメタル級王座, JCW World Juggalo Heavyweight Champion, 2-time NWA World’s Heavyweight Champion, 2-time NWA National Heavyweight Champion & RPW British Heavyweight Champion Colt Cabana.

“Outlaws of Outer Space” opens up the album with a synth-boom bap hybrid talking about being ready for total war prior to King Magnetic tagging along for “Road Warriors” named after the WWE Hall of Famers & former 3-time WWE tag team champions welcoming you to your only future & the crooning sample throughout is flipped really well. “Audio Assault” ruggedly calls for all his enemies to fall to their knees leading into A.M. Early Morning & Nightwalker coming into the picture for “The Time Has Come” to flex their prowesses & my favorite part about the beat has to be the guitar hands down.

Continuing from there with “Terry Funk Syndrome”, we have Novatore over more synth/boom bap production referring himself to be amongst the dopest out paying homage to the WWE Hall of Famer, former 2-time ECW World Heavyweight Champion, ECW Television Champion, 2-time WWE United States Champion, WWE Tag Team Champion, NWA World’s Heavyweight Champion, former JCW World Juggalo Heavyweight Champion & 3-time WCW Hardcore Champion of the same name whereas “End Times” is just an instrumental interlude.

“The Game is Over” with Benny Holiday & iLL ZakieL finds the trio ruggedly letting everyone know they didn’t come to fuck around while the song “Mass Panic” has a more dustier quality to it talking about how we’ve been a nation of zombies. The penultimate track “Wasteland” with OutcastGawd Lord El sees the pair going back & forth with one another over a pitched-loop until “Class Act” is a piano-laced closer talking about never being afraid to fail.

Although I’d personally say Master of Morbid Creations happens to be the better of the 2 albums that Novatore has dropped throughout 2022, you should be more than satisfied with what we got on Living in the End Times. The features are a little hit or miss, but the production & concept are both as strong enough as the predecessor’s to make me be able to want to listen to it again.

Score: 3.5/5

@legendswill_never_die on Instagram for the best music reviews weekly!

A.M. Early Morning – “Nicholson” review

This is the full-length debut from Chicago, Illinois emcee A.M. Early Morning. Coming up off his debut EP The Maxi Single Project back in 2017, he would later go on to release a couple more installments making a trilogy out of it as well as 7AM 747 & Oakley. He just dropped the Nightwalker-produced Late Night Early Morning III a couple months back & now to see Johnny Slash fully producing Nicholson from front to back definitely peaked my interest given how much I enjoyed the beats of his that G-Mo Skee freestyled over when he would finish his YouTube video game streams.

“Wendy” is a brief yet gruesome intro proclaiming he’ll turn his competition to slaw whereas “Full Amount” goes into boom bap territory talking about how it’s going out once it comes in. Daniel Son & Poison Pen tag along for the sinister “This Tape” saying that the rap game is a legal hustle just before “Vibes” dolefully talks about fucking with the best.

Meanwhile on “When I Shoot”, we have Johnny Gunnz coming into the picture to earnestly help remind listeners they don’t miss leading into “Can’t Let ‘Em Breathe” fuses together some dusty drums & keyboards talking about having his foot on the rap game’s neck. “The Hammer” with Jaber & Lo Gun then finds the trio bloodthirsty on top of a unhinged instrumental, but then “Criminal Collective” ominously talks about making your own moves.

The song “No Cap” grimily calls out all the studio gangsters out there while the title track with Gavlyn almost has a bit of a dejected yet jazzy tone to the production & the 2 are comparing themselves to that of the retired actor of the same name. “Joe Pesci” then finishes it off by aggressively airs out everyone under the sun.

Coming away from Nicholson, I can say without question that it’s even better than the EP he just put out a couple months ago. He & Johnny Slash couldn’t have payed tribute to one of the greatest horror movies of all-time any better while bringing the best out of each other.

Score: 4.5/5