Ill Bill – “Billy” review

This is the 8th full-length album from Brooklyn underground veteran Ill Bill. Rising to prominence as a member of the seminal quartet Non Phixion, he would become one of the most hard working dudes in the underground whether it be his solo discography or his subsequent output as part of groups like La Coka Nostra & Heavy Metal Kings. Last we heard from the Cult Leader was during the COVID-19 pandemic when he formed the Gorilla Twins with NEMS & dropped their self-titled debut, following it up with his previous effort La Bella Medusa that same fall. But after 3 years in the making, the east coast MC/producer is returning in the form of Billy.

“Alpha Futura” is a 2-minute opener with a whimsical boom bap instrumental & Bill referring to himself as a supreme guillotine whereas “Hell Awaits” over a futuristically eerie instrumental from Furio with some kicks & snares talking about holding a rifle to someone’s head while holding the Bible at the same time. “Jordan 3s” speaks on chilling in the projects rocking the titular shoes over a nasty boom bap beat courtesy of Stu Bangas, but then the Boston beatsmith sticks around to helps him tell “The Ballad of Billy®” over a solemn loop attached to some more snares & kicks.

Moving on from there with “Know My Name”, we have Skam2? tagging along over an organ-laced beat with some claps cooked up by the former Old World Disorder member promising y’all gon’ know who they are once it’s all said & done leading into “Canarsie Koresh” returning to the boom bap courtesy of Lord Goat talking about keeping your weapon loaded. Immortal Technique & Sick Jacken both come into the picture for “Prophets of Doom” making it clear we could only be a second away from taking our last breaths with a cataclysmic instrumental from Farma G just before “The Mandalorian” fuses boom bap with some guitar licks calling himself the lone bounty hunter of Canarsie.

“Supreme Magnetic” by the Heavy Metal Kings & Lord Goat finds the trio over some string sections coming through with them aggressive battle raps we all know & after the “Higher Power” interlude, “Smarten Up” by the Gorilla Twins talking about all you know not being enough over a soulful Little Vic instrumental. “Once Upon a Time in Canarsie” with Lord Goat sees both Non Phixion members looking back on the days growing up where the sharks be over booming yet nocturnal beat while “Yallah Yallah” by La Coka Nostra & O.T. the Real talking about getting your face shot off.

Meanwhile, “This is Anger” weaves some more pianos on top of kicks & snares thanks to DJ JS-1 delving into lividness prior to the Heavy Metal Kings returning alongside Kool G Rap on “Root for the Villain” to cheer on the bad guys over a morbidly raw DJ Muggs beat. “Sunday at the Tunnel” hooks up a classy sample provided by Statik Selektah paying homage to his influences in hip hop while “Leviathan” with Tragedy Khadafi talks about murder making summer colder over a grisly instrumental.

Lord Goat & Q-Unique come together for the mellow “Chubb Rock” making it clear they treat ‘em right kin to the hometown veteran of the same name with the flamethrower until Tragedy Khadafi returns alongside Ransom to deliver the crooning “Casino” overdosing on confidence. OMB Jay Dee’s verse on “Willis” has to be the weakest feature performance on the album even though it’s still cool nonetheless to see Billy give props to the Brooklyn drill scene. On top that, I love the churchy C-Lance production along with the Gorilla Twins & Rittz’ performances wanting to know exactly what the fuck they talkin’ ‘bout referencing Diff’rent Strokes.

After the “Wrong Place” interlude, the penultimate track “Time to Go” makes it clear that the grim reaper lives in every violent soul there is with a foreboding beat featuring co-production from Scott Stallone & the closer “Omega Therion” referencing the iconic Swiss extreme metal band Celtic Frost’s timeless sophomore effort To Mega Therion of course as every Bill fan should know that he’s a metalhead wrapping the album up with an eerie boom bap heater Body Bag Ben cooked up streetsweeping everybody.

Obviously given the title, I went into Billy expecting this to be a more personal effort & lo & behold: That’s what we got & one that I would say is an improvement to La Bella Medusa as dope as that album was a few Halloweens back because Bill never disappoints if we’re being honest here. Some people will complain about the 71 minute runtime, but he definitely he has the lyrical prowess & the gulliest batch of beats to pull it off as he does here.

Score: 4/5

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Big Left – “Slaughter of the Innocents” review

Big Left is a 47 year old MC from Queens, New York who broke out in 2002 off his debut EP Who’s Left?. This was followed up in 2007 with the debut mixtape World War III & then after his short tenure in La Coka Nostra, he finally unleashed his 1st full-length Walking Dead on Devil’s Night almost a decade ago at this point. But after coming out of a hiatus & signing to Force 5 Records, Left is making a comeback in the form of his sophomore album.

“The Reaper” starts it all off with some killer guitar riffs getting in his murderous bag whereas “Fuck ‘Em” with Aztek the Barfly weaves in some keyboards & dusty drums talking about not playing with the paper. “Flavor” is a violin-infused boom bap cut flexing his lyrical abilities just before the Tekk-assisted “Move Back” brings in some haunting organ harmonies talking about knocking motherfuckers out.

Meanwhile on “Pardon Me”, we have King Relik tagging along with Big Left for a thunderous party anthem just before “The Compendium” hauntingly expresses to be acknowledged as one of the greats when he’s gone. “1 Take” has a more vibrant trap sound to it rapping his ass off nonstop for 2 minutes, but then “50 Caliber Bangs” finds Napalm Drop linking up over a synth-heavy boom bap beat talking about staying underground.

The song “Force 5 Syndicate” is an anarchic Force 5 posse cut while the penultimate track “I Tried” melancholically opens up about him attempting to look inside himself. “Get It” with Masamoon then closes out the album on some beautifully ignorant, disrespectful shit.

Left’s been putting it down for the culture for a long time now & Slaughter of the Innocents really proves that he hasn’t lost a step. Hell, I think it’s the best thing he’s ever done! It’s well-produced, the guests are well-picked, he sounds completely rejuvenated & destroys mics like he never took time off.

Score: 4/5

Slaine – “The Things We Can’t Forgive” review

Brand full-length album & the 5th overall from Boston, Massachusetts veteran Slaine. Most notable for being a member of the underground supergroup La Coka Nostra, he released an EP & a total of 4 mixtapes before coming through with his debut album A World with No Skies in 2011 under Suburban Noize Records. This was followed up with The Boston Project in 2013 as well as The King of Everything the year after that, but the man went took a 3-year hiatus following the release of the Slaine is Dead EP in 2016 & returned by dropping the mature 1 Day in 2019. Fast forward 15 months later, Slaine is kicking off the 3rd act of his career by dropping The Things We Can’t Forgive.

The opener “When the War Ends” talks about how we’re not prepared for what happens tomorrow over a despondent beat from The Arcitype, who produced almost every song on the album much like 1 Day. The next song “Everything Once” talks about having a lot in life to lose over a tense piano instrumental while the track “Blurry Eyed” talks about his soul being torn over a portentous beat. The song “Revolver” talks about continuously ending up in the same place that he’s already been in over a cacophonous instrumental while the track “Wrath & Pride” with Snak the Ripper finds the 2 talking about going crazy over an ornery beat.

The song “Chasing Ghosts” opens up about a failed relationship over an instrumental with some melancholic acoustic passages while the track “Beautiful” acknowledges those who call him strange over a fiery beat. The song “Not Enough” calls for strength to get through the day over a pessimistic instrumental while the title track talks about this relationship of his being like a mirror over an optimistic-sounding beat from Statik Selektah. The album ends with “Legend of the Fall”, where Slaine talks about ghosts talking to him in his head over a glum piano instrumental.

An equally fantastic follow-up to 1 Day, what we get out of The Things We Can’t Forgive is a dark trip into Slaine’s spiraling whirlwind of mental obsession & the most emotional LP in his entire discography. The Arcitype’s production feels a bit darker than it was 15 months ago finding duality through a 38 minute self-examination addressing topics like love, sex, heartbreak, narcissism, trauma, betrayal, addiction, forgiveness & recovery.

Score: 3.5/5

Slaine – “1 Day” review

Slaine is a 42 year old MC from Boston, Massachusetts most known for being a member of the Special Teamz & later La Coka Nostra. He released an EP & a total of 4 mixtapes before coming through with his debut album A World with No Skies in the summer of 2011 under Suburban Noize Records. This was followed up with The Boston Project in 2013 as well as The King of Everything the following year but after dropping his Slaine is Dead EP in 2016, the man is making a comeback with his 4th full-length album.

“Redemption” kicks off addresses his feeling of atonement over a nocturnal instrumental while the next song “Time is Now” talks about living in the moment over a funky boom bap beat. “Still Got My Gun” featuring the Heavy Metal Kings finds the trio getting bloodthirsty over a funereal boom bap instrumental & after “Trick the Trap” vividly depicts the hard knock life over a grimy Statik Selektah beat, “It Catches You” is laced with emotional lyricism backed by a grand instrumental.

The track “Broken Toys” with Apathy & Locksmith sees the 3 talking about clout chasers over an woozy beat while the song “Night Will Fall” talks about embracing your shadows over a bleak boom bap instrumental. “The Feeling I Get” then talks about rising above it all over a sinister beat whereas “The Day Before I Die” vents about his inner demons over a settler yet grim instrumental.

“Can’t Stay the Same” talks about maturity over a boom bap beat with some plink synths while the song “1 More Day” gets motivational over an impassioned instrumental. Then there’s the closer “Do What You Love”, where Slaine advises the listener to follow their dreams over a boom bap beat with some strings.

Right here is the comeback that Slaine truly deserves, easily his most mature body of work yet in my opinion. He really details everything that’s been going on in his life throughout the past 5 years & what little features are present add a lot to the context of the album. Grown man rap at it’s finest.

Score: 3.5/5

Ill Bill – “Pulp Phixion” review

Ill Bill is a legendary MC from Brooklyn, New York who rose to prominence as a member of Non Phixion. He eventually made his solo debut in 2004 with What’s Wrong with Bill? & would follow it up in 2008 with The Hour of Reprisal. 2 years later, he teamed up with DJ Muggs to deliver Kill Devil Hills & came back in 2013 with his magnum opus The Grimy Awards. He then took a break from music until Septagram in 2016 & now just 4 months after the release of the Stu Bangas produced Cannibal Hulk, he’s returning with his 2nd EP with Sunday producing it in it’s entirety.

The EP starts off with “Warlord”, where Bill compares himself to just that over a grimy beat. The next song “Axe of Abarxas” with Goretex & Sick Jacken sees the 3 getting confrontational over a Godly boom bap beat. The penultimate track “Debbie Abono” is a vicious Heavy Metal Kings reunion while the closer “Shoot First, Die Later” with Goretex sees the 2 getting bloodthirsty over a decent rap metal instrumental.

All & all, this is a decent EP from the cult leader. The production is just ok & Bill’s lyricism remains raw but much like that Cannbial Hulk album, there’s an overabundance of features. Nothing against everyone who was featured on the project AT ALL, but I’d just love to hear new Ill Bill joints where it’s just Bill. Regardless, it’s still a good listen.

Score: 3/5