Gotti Mob – “Don’t Be Stupid” review

The Gotti Mob is a newly formed hip hop duo consisting of Kurupt & C-Mob. One is a Philly born albeit Los Angeles bred veteran notable for being 1/2 of Tha Dogg Pound alongside Daz Dillinger & the latter coming straight outta Marion, Indiana turning heads in the underground since 2005, particularly within the horrorcore scene. They’ve only crossed paths with each other on wax a few times over the years, but are linking together & putting their chemistry to the test with a full-length debut.

“Mid West” is a grim piano/boom bap opener produced by Tone Spliff to start off the album talking about being so much more than the images that both MCs have portrayed whereas “Want Smoke!” works in some melodic vocal chops & dusty drums courtesy of Johnny Slash acknowledging that people don’t wanna fuck with them. Too $hort tags along for “Dumb Shit (Delirious)” to talk about not dealing with stupidity over a syrupy sample just before “I Ain’t Even Know!” has a more spacious sound speaking on living their lives & not trying to do anyone wrong.

Moving on from there with “Player’s Ball”, we have Snoop Dogg joining the Gotti Mob over some production blending g-funk & boom bap referencing the titular gathering of pimps that takes place in Chicago every year leading into “Da Buzine$$” diving into trap territory talking about doing big business only. After the “Game Recognize Game” interlude, Sacramento veteran & the newest addition to the Strange Music roster X-Raided comes into the picture for the bell-infused “Often” advising to take caution prior to the bouncy “Take Me Away” showing a more romantic side lyrically.

“Medicine” with MC Eiht finds all 3 of them over a dark trap beat asking if one wants to do some gangsta shit or handle a certain situation like gentlemen while the song “Move Nice” pulls from hyphy music instrumentally recommending that one needs to be aware of all the tension surrounding them. The penultimate track “Wanna Be a Ho” returns to the trap sound 1 last time telling their significant others to be themselves around them, but then “Everywhere” with KXNG CROOKED & Spice 1 truly ends the album with a delirious ballad about being all over the place.

Now despite already being familiar with Kurupt at a young age due to his history with Death Row Records & the D.P.G.C. collective, I personally haven’t really heard much of C-Mob’s own material outside of some features he’s done for artists like Tech N9ne & Kung Fu Vampire throughout the last 3 years. All of that being said: the Gotti Mob gave us a pretty solid debut here & only time will tell if they plan on working with one another more down the road. The production from start to finish is trunk-rattling & the styles of both MCs gel with one another impressively.

Score: 4/5

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Tha Dogg Pound – “DPG 4 Life” review

Tha Dogg Pound is a renown hip hop duo consisting of Long Beach emcee/producer Daz Dillinger & Philadelphia emcee Kurupt. I really shouldn’t have to say much about their 1995 full-length debut Dogg Food since it’s widely recognized as one of the last great albums that Death Row Records ever put out. They’ve gone on to release some music here & there since but just 11 years after their last album 100 Wayz, they’re reuniting for their 8th full-length album.

“Ghetto” kicks things off with a chilled out depiction of having bills to pay & them doing fine whereas “We Rollin’” goes into a funkier direction with them stuntin’. “Dissolution of Marriage” is a calmer tune talking about just that, but then “Used 2” follows it up going into a more depressive tone.

Meanwhile on “Bottom Bitch”, we get a classy theme for all the pimps out there right before Snoop Dogg comes into the picture for spacey sex anthem “Nice & Slow”. The highnamic trio stick around for the g-funk thug anthem “Skip Skip” prior to going back to the romance tip on the atmospheric “Baby I Want U Bac”.

“It Ain’t Nuthin’” is an auto-tune trap ballad talking about smoking in an old school Chevy while “I’m On It” with Soopafly works in some snares & squeaking synths to talk about being hustlas. The song “Let’s Roll” serves as a melodic cut talking about partying with their ladies while the penultimate track “Hood Girl” brings in some keys to talk about their taste in women. Then they put the feel-good West Coast tribute “LA Here’s to U” off of Kurupt’s 2013 sophomore mixtape Money, Bitches, Power for the closer.

We’ve had to wait a little over decade for Dillinger & Young Gotti to reunite in a full-length capacity. The end results are a bit of mixed bag for me personally. I think the lovey dovey shit sounds forced even though “Let’s Play House” is one of my all-time favorite DPG songs but when they’re on their g shit, it sounds more natural.

Score: 2.5/5

The HRSMN – “The Last Ride” review

The HRSMN is a hip hop supergroup consisting of Canibus, Killah Priest, Kurupt & Ras Kass. These 4 have made a name for themselves as some of the most underrated lyricists the culture has ever seen & first formed a little over 20 years ago with a couple of collabs. A mixtape called The Horsemen Project even emerged in late 2003, which was followed up with the Historic EP just 11 years later. Fast forward to present day, they’re coming back together for their official full-length album.together for what they say is their first & only official full-length album.

After the “Sintro”, the Bronze Nazareth-produced “Centaurs” is an organ-inflicted boom bap kickstarter to the album where the 4 lyricists compare themselves to that of the Greek mythology creature whereas “This Shit Right Here” is a rugged hip hop quotable fest. As for “Champion” with Planet Asia & Chino XL, I appreciate the content about being victors but the instrumental is just so minimal. However, “Morticians” is a theatrical banger comparing themselves to that of the grim reaper.

Meanwhile on “1 Second”, we have The HRSMN & Hus Kingpin hopping aboard a trap beat saying they spit sicker than COVID-19 before “Love n War” takes a turn into awkward romance ballad territory. “Believer” is a symphonic anthem about celebrating Passover by meeting death & after the “False Profits” skit, we go into a more luxurious sound whilst speaking on their longevity on “Apocalips Now”.

“Impossible” gets on their battle rap shit over a sly instrumental leading up Phil Da Agony, El Gant, Al Tejada & Fokis accompanying the quartet on the keyboard heavy “Burger King” telling anyone to bring the beef to them. Finally there’s the title track, which has occultist vibes in the beat & the supergroup is bidding everyone farewell given the fact that they said this was gonna be their only album.

It took these guys 2 decades to finally put out an LP together & I’m not mad at it being their only one as a unit because I enjoyed quite a bit of it. All 4 emcees sound great with each other & most importantly, the mixing/mastering on here is a lot more cleaner than it was on The Horsemen Project.

Score: 4/5