Tag: Kuniva

D12 – “D12 Forever” review

D12 is a duo from Detroit, Michigan now consisting of Kuniva & Swifty McVay. Other members included B. Flatt, Bizarre, the late Bugz, the late Dirtty Ratt, the late Eye-Kyu, their late de facto leader Proof, Killa Hawk, DJ Head, Fuzz Scoota, mR. pOrTeR & most notably Eminem. Becoming the first act to sign with Shady Records after Interscope Records helped launch it, their full-length debut Devil’s Night has become a hometown classic & the sophomore effort D12 World went for a more commercial sound, carrying the legacy forward 2 decades after Proof’s murder by dropping their 3rd album under Compound Interest Entertainment.

“My Salsa” after the “Again, Another Public Service Announcement” intro produced by Jake Bass opens up sampling “My Band” talking about giving what the world’s been missing whereas “Tear It Down” featuring B-Real & Xzibit finds the quartet linking up for a hardcore hip hop single. “Proof & Eli” lets Derty Harry shine posthumously with his son Eli Ble$$ed for a couple minutes just before “Better Dayz” talks about having faith in God when times are hard.

As for “Kill the Engineer”, we have Swift & Kuniva trading bars over a boom bap instrumental talking about an audio engineer being murdered in their studio leading into “Tenderism” featuring Method Man finds all 4 of them getting back in their hardcore bag lyrically. “Dirty Nation” flips the Funkadelic single “1 Nation Under a Groove” for an carefree g-funk anthem while “Still Hating” featuring King Iso & Tech N9ne after the “Nick’s Coffee House” skit returns to a more hardcore hip hop sound.

“Bugz ‘98” pays homage to their fallen brethren in the vein of “Bugz ‘97” off D12 World while “Even Knights Kneel” talks about kings having to meet their Gods over a rap rock beat. “Nightmare Walking” featuring Xzibit includes a touching callback to “Kurt Kobain” off Searching for Jerry Garcia during Kuniva’s verse & after “What If?” takes a few minutes to paint vivid scenarios, “Forever” ends the D12 Forever talking about representing the team for life.

Regardless of Eminem saying at the end of “Stepping Stone” that D12 was over, I have all the respect in the world for Swifty McVay & Kuniva keeping the group’s legacy alive even if it’s only them going forward. That said: If we’re gonna get a whole series out of this considering that sequel to D12 Forever is being hinted, I wouldn’t mind it & feel like fans would still appreciate it as a gift coinciding the 25 year anniversary of their debut. Jake Bass’ production reminds me of the Dirty Dozen’s earlier output, the guests are all carefully selected & the performances of both members are harder than the My Brother’s Keeper EP in comparison.

Score: 4/5

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

Kuniva – “The Bando Theory” review

1280x1280

Kuniva is a 42 year old MC from Detroit, Michigan who started as 1/2 of Da Brigade with dEnAuN. Both of whom would go on to join D12 with Proof, Bizarre, Swifty McVay & of course Eminem. They released 2 platinum studio albums together in the early 2000s but when the group’s leader Proof was murdered in 2006, everyone began focusing on their solo careers. Kuniva released a slew of mixtapes throughout this decade, but made his full-length debut in 2014 with A History of Violence. This was followed up with a sequel tape in 2016 & 3 years later, he’s back on the scene with his sophomore album.

After the intro, we go into the title track. Where Kuniva talks about how real he is over a vicious instrumental. The next song “The Real” pays tribute to those who’ve remained in his circle over a mellow instrumental while the track “Boss Down” is filled with angry battle bars over a nocturnal trap beat from Nick Speed. The song “Shine” talks about maintaining successful over an instrumental with some subdued background vocals & a guitar popping in occasionally while the track “G.T.F.B. (Get The Fuck Back)” with 7 the General sees the 2 vividly describe someone trying to carjack them over an ominous beat.

The song “Weaponized” of course is laced with that gun talk over a killer rock sample while the track “Blue Note Lounge” with Fatt Father sees the 2 reclaiming their prowesses over a luscious instrumental. The song “Waldorf” talks about how fly he is & his competition being talentless over an eerie boom bap beat while the track “Victim” is an awkward auto-tune ballad with a buttery instrumental.

The song “Livin’ My Life” with Rod Dae needs no further explanation over a slick instrumental while the track “I Love Ya” pays tribute to hip hop over a punchy instrumental with some beautiful keys. The penultimate track “Red Hots & Faygo” talks about people who always have a problem with him over the same sample that RZA used for “Let My N****s Live” off of the Wu-Tang Clan’s 3rd album The W back in 2000 & then the album ends with “D.O.N.S. (Day One N****S)”, which of course pays tribute to his close homies over an atmospheric beat.

If y’all are looking for an O.G. in the Detroit hip hop scene getting back on his grind, then please give this a listen because I’ve always looked at Kuniva as an underrated link of the D12 crew. Some of the hooks could’ve been better to me but for the most part: this thing has well incorporated features, great production & Kuniva’s pen game remains deadly.

Score: 3.5/5