King Kashmere – “Sounds Like Home” review

This is the 4th EP from London, England, United Kingdom emcee/producer King Kashmere. Notable for being a part of several groups or duos over the last few decades ranging from Kingdom of Fear & Invisible Inc. to Gawd Status as well as Old Children & Strange U, he also has 7 full-length solo albums & a couple of extended plays under his belt. Making his debut for High Focus Records in 2016 off his 3rd album Woof, he returned to the label with TR3B & has brought Cuth in to fully produce Sounds Like Home coming off The Album to End All Alien Abductions.

“Change Your Energy” soulfully starts off talking about everyone having their own universe within ourselves whereas “Thick Bag of Slime” featuring Alecs DeLarge goes for a psychedelic boom bap vibe to speak of striving & getting little in return. The title track soulfully while talks about keeping it real when others pretend while “Door of Truth” grittily asks if one can afford losing the game of life. After the compositional “Places” intermission, the final song “Valhalla” wraps up Sounds Like Home crushingly remembering his brother Tom.

I’d have to put The Album to End All Alien Abductions & TR3B above Sounds Like Home, but I’m nevertheless grateful King Kashmere was able to give us a 6 track EP containing some of the most emotive material in a career spanning over 2 decades. Cuth’s production here leans towards a boom bap direction as opposed to Alecs’ experimentation during The Album to End All Alien Abductions providing a good soundtrack for The Iguana Man to back at simpler times, long lost friends & a new perspective regarding the beauty & brutality of the human condition.

Score: 3.5/5

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King Kashmere – “The Album to End All Alien Abductions” review

Here we have the 7th studio LP from London, England, United Kingdom emcee King Kashmere. Notable for being a part of several groups or duos over the last few decades ranging from Kingdom of Fear & Invisible Inc. to Gawd Status as well as Old Children & Strange U, he also has 6 full-lengths & a few extended plays under his belt with the most recent being TR3B under High Focus Records. However, he’s enlisting lo-fi producer Alecs DeLarge to fully produce The Album to End All Alien Abductions.

After the “Worldwide” intro, the first song “Angel Strike” opens up with a boom bap beat taking further cues from funk & jazz music talking about wanting to be left alone having nothing to stress over whereas “Damien Darhk” works in a saxophone & some Memphis-influenced 808s asking where the fun went. “Limbo / Genki Dama” featuring King Kakarot teams up for a 2-parter talking about being the kind to not run from a fight leading into the soulful boom bap crossover “Old Earth” shouting out his mother.

“Intergalaktus” turns up the funk boasting his ultramagnetic aura while “Fonk Abyss” brings a more mellow vibe to the table for those who want to smoke some weed & chill out whilst keeping his eyes on the crown. “4000 AD” featuring Renelle 893 finds the 2 teaming up on the mic for a drumless hardcore hip hop track attacking the naysayers celebrating their perceived defeat & after the “Inside” skit, “Dustman” featuring Alecs DeLarge & Jerré dustily talks about levitating weight to keep their brains strong.

After the “£££ for Beats!” skit, “The Essence” preceding the compositional “Blue” interlude maintains a vintage boom bap feeling to it speaking of his desire to take hip hop back to it’s ethos while the jazzy “House of Cards” talks about struggling with mental health issues. After the “Hollywood” skit, “Soul Caliber” meshes some vibraphones with kicks & snares addressing the people tryna take control of him while “Most Blunted” featuring Alecs DeLarge finds the 2 sharing the mic together for an 115 second ode to weed.

“Solar Flare” featuring Moka Only & Verb T succeeding the “Virus World” instrumental jazzily boasting they’d blackball roughly 1/2 these other MCs while “Infinitizm” talks about this being the sounds of those who’ll live eternally making their tides rise. “Astro Children” featuring Alecs DeLarge, Ash the Author, Booda French & HPBLK unites 5 unlikely competitors for a vintage hardcore hip hop/boom bap song while the final song “North Star” ahead of the “Deepspace Slime” outro soulfully talks about searching for brighter days.

Making up for Motherbox’s divisive reception, The Album to End All Alien Abductions comfortably positions itself amongst my personal favorites throughout King Kashmere’s solo discography right in the same category as In the Hour of Chaos or his High Focus Records debut Woof. Alecs DeLarge whips up the most experimental production of his career, which appropriately suits The Iguana Man’s lyrics heavily themed around science fiction other than a couple glimpses of his personal life.

Score: 4.5/5

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Renelle 893 – “Cocoa Butter” review

This is the 2nd EP from London, England, United Kingdom emcee Renelle 893. Introducing himself a year & a half earlier off the previous extended play Black Currents, he would eventually catch the attention of High Focus Records not too long afterwards & signed to the label. The historic Hove, East Sussex imprint however has decided for Renelle to end their 2022 by having King Kashmere fully produce Cocoa Butter a couple months succeeding Letherette entirely producing Chuck Enzo’s official High Focus return TR3B.

“Let Go” begins with a funky boom bap opener talking about keeping his hood up in his head low whereas “Wine Bottle” drumlessly flexes of pulling up to a zoo because he got a cougar in his whip. “I Dunno” featuring The Strange Neighbour finds the pair suggesting that they act the way do because of the cognac they drink & once “Like a Villain” wavily talks about him wanting to simply chill, “Gotta Go” ends the EP with him speaking of ruling with Hell fire & brimstones.

Continuing to warm fans up for an upcoming full-length debut album of his own, Renelle 893 embraces a new era in the London artist’s career with an extended play that greatly improves beyond the predecessor & his future on board the High Focus Records roster promises a bright future for him in preparation of グレート-O-カーン becoming the new RPW British Heavyweight Champion tomorrow. King Kashmere’s production throughout Cocoa Butter feels nostalgically reminiscent to the simpler times of our lives compared to Black Currents & Renelle’s pen-game has improved tremendously over the course of 20 months.

Score: 4/5

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King Kashmere – “TR3B” review

London, England, United Kingdom emcee King Kashmere recruiting Wolverhampton, West Midlands production duo Letherette for his 3rd EP. Notable for being a part of several groups or duos over the last few decades ranging from Kingdom of Fear & Invisible Inc. to Gawd Status as well as Old Children & Strange U, he also has 4 full-length solo albums & a couple of extended plays under his belt with the most recent being Motherbox. Signing to High Focus Records recently, he’s ready to make his debut for the label with TR3B a couple months after Ricky Knight Jr. became a 2-time RPW British Heavyweight Champion.

“G-Cell” starts off with a futuristic boom bap instrumental talking about being in his own different lane lyrically & covering his stomach in armor while “Black Knight Satellite” hooks up some synthesizers to get the audience hyped for the mysteries of life. The final song “Snake Pie” takes a bit of a bombastic approach to the beat wondering if humanity’s ghost will find another host before insanity approaches leading into “T-33” finishing off in the form of this compositional outro catered towards Andy Harber & Richard Roberts’ signature house sound.

Meeting each other roughly a decade ago after performing in the same boiler room & connecting through a shared love of the same genre-blurring styles that’ve defined their respective careers, it was only a matter of time until King Kashmere locked in with Letherette to give their fans something worth celebrating & it could possibly be considered Chuck Enzo’s finest EPs years to come from now. Andy & Richard’s production is heavily centered around their experimentations of the 2010s compared to Motherbox and The Iguana Man lyrically finds himself stuck between thought & feeling.

Score: 4/5

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