Coyote – “yoteLAndia” review

Los Angeles, California duo Coyote ending the month with their 5th studio LP. Consisting of the Morales brothers LadiesLoveGuapo & Ricky Blanco, they went on to gain traction in late 2022 off their debut album Thicker than Water noted for its witty punchlines & East coast influences. Their sophomore effort L.Aliens last summer quickly became their breakout project to the point where people were recommending to me & easily understood the appeal, eagerly waiting to hear yoteLAndia coming off their feature on the new Reason mixtape I Love You Again.

“Sea of Darkness” is a sample-driven boom bap opener talking about being in the end days whereas “Dodging Bullets” kinda has a Memphis influence instrumentally showing off how violent both siblings can get when necessary. “SLAng” featuring B-Real & Zoe Osama samples “Deep Cover” by Dr. Dre marking the debut of WWE Hall of Famer Snoop Dogg breaking down the west coast lingo until “Drop Top Down” featuring Doeman & & Paul Wall dedicates itself to those in the lowriders.

Ab-Soul teams up with Coyote on the lead single “Runnin’ All Fades” hopping over a cloudy trap instrumental with some notable switch-ups talking about a blizzard going on outside while “Face Tatts” featuring Lefty Gunplay finds the quartet over some drum breaks from Jason Martin formerly known as Problem and Mike & Keys to talk about hearing everyone caught a fade. “Goon” featuring Bizarre on the remix pulls from Latin jazz at the start prior to changing in favor of some bass-licks howling at the moon together just before “L.A. Verses Everybody” featuring Sirrealist feels like it’s their city against the world.

“Run a Muck” brings the Memphis undertones back in the fold & putting a dirtier south spin on it behaving in an disruptive, uncontrollable fashion leading into “Minor Setbacks” talking about relatively small or insignificant hindrances they’ve come across in their personal lives & their music career respectively. “Best Served Cold” featuring NEMS finds the trio over a boom bap beat discussing the way they prefer to serve revenge, but then “Who Want Problems” mercilessly asks if anyone wants beef with them.

Kruk 1 appears for “Not Done Yet” bringing a bit of a Mobb vibe to the table talking about putting it down for hip hop culture with no end in sight while “Product of Immigration” profoundly tackles their upbringings in light of the mass deportations & increased discrimination towards immigrants this year. “redruM Backwards” featuring Tash keeps it dusty thanks to DJ Lethal thirsting for blood while “Barrel of a 9” gets on the gangsta rap tip maintaining a boom bap flare.

“Strike a Pose” featuring Young Drummer Boy dabbles with a nervous sound pulling up to the spot with the main goal to leave with pretty, young women stealing them from their men while “Footang” talks about chopping bricks & to be paid if you want to try the product. The sampling of Latin music suits “Ni De Aqui Ni De Aya” perfectly so they can both get some shit off their chests & “Meet the Lambs” ends with their version of “Meet the Grahams” by Kendrick Lamar.

Starting the deluxe run, “Nasty Work” kicks down the door with a boom bap instrumental talking about being shameless while the doomsday trap aesthetic ms of “Don’t Be at the Club” takes a moment to call comfortability a luxury. “California” featuring Xzibit unites for a tribute to the sunshine state while “A.M.H.S.D. (All My Homies Slang Dope)” featuring Fre$h talks about their friends moving weight.

“Fly Guys” featuring JuJu Flaco reminds me of something The Neptunes would’ve produced in the late 90s while “The Scoop” talks about the slim chances of making it out the hood because kids be flexing trigger fingers. The final bonus track “Idiocracy” properly finishes with the Morales over a drumless sample to confess they’ve been losing their optimism because of the world falling apart & adults justifying killing children.

Over 10 months since they broke out after their freestyle on The Bootleg Kev Podcast, there wasn’t any better option for LadiesLoveGuapo & Ricky Blanco to capitalize on the success of their sophomore effort last summer than welcoming everyone to yoteLAndia. You still get palatable production like the predecessor whether it be boom bap, jazz rap, Mobb, nervous or trap in addition to the Yotes telling us their story & a list of guests joining them offering different perspectives in their world.

Score: 4/5

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Coyote – “L.Aliens” review

This is the sophomore full-length studio LP from Los Angeles, California duo Coyote. Consisting of the Morales brothers LadiesLoveGuapo & Ricky Blanco, they went on to gain traction in late 2022 off their debut album Thicker than Water noted for its witty punchlines & East coast influences. However, their official follow up a year & a half later L.Aliens is quickly becoming their breakout project to the point where people were recommending that I give it a shot & I was more than willing to since the tracklist looked promising.

“Pop the Trunk” kicks the door down as hard as possible with it’s boom bap production & hardcore lyricism reminiscent to the 90s whereas “3 Lokos” featuring fucking Shaquille O’Neal works in more kicks & snares feeling reminiscent to Havoc’s production throughout Mobb Deep’s timeless sophomore effort The Infamous… talking about all 3 of them being psychos. The instrumental on “Pocho” featuring MC Magic feels like something Tyler, The Creator would’ve made during the Odd Future days & I mean that as a compliment as someone who’s been down with him since that era showing off their Mexican heritage & “Tryna Get High Foo?” featuring B-Real is a boom bap-heavy smoker’s theme.

Moving forward with “LA LA Land”, we have LadiesLoveGuapo & Ricky Blanco venturing out in trap territory telling us what it was like for them going up in the City of Angels prior to “D.U.I” featuring SUCKERFREE104 hooking up bells as well as kicks & snares to talk about having too much to drink & pullin’ up on your bitch with the roof off under the influence. “Buck 50” swaps the bells out in favor of sampling asking if you really walk it like you talk it with your chest out while “Do You” puts a psychedelic spin on trap dropping flexing on everyone else in the underground.

Shady Records signee Westside Boogie coming fresh off opening for Kendrick Lamar during his Pop Out concert at the Kia Forum last night uniting the west coast since the deaths of Kobe Bryant & Nipsey Hu$$le joins Coyote for the syrupy “House Party” further exemplified by the chopped & screwed hook repping Los Angeles & Compton respectively leading into the soulful “Pushin’” featuring Doeman keeping it playa & positive. The trap-flavored “Wadadabang” featuring The Game & Lefty Gunplay gets on their gangsta shit, but then “Devil’s Contract” fuses g-funk & boom bap going horrorcore.

“Letter to God” sees the Morales brothers hopping over an apocalyptic drill beat sending a message to the Higher Power just before “Drugs Bunny” returns to the boom bap drawing inspiration from Daringer instrumentally hilariously dissing Bad Boy Entertainment founder Puff Daddy a.k.a. P. Diddy or Diddy for assaulting Cassie & being a grown man acting like a bitch. “Note to Self” embraces the trap sound once more assuring that the repercussions will be worth it while “Cheers” takes the cloudier route explaining that you either in it or you ain’t.

Meanwhile, the bouncy “Splash” talks about how they’ll treat you like the rest determining your value by who you think you are elevating instead of staying down while “Blanco the Blizzard” marks a return of the Griselda boom bap vibes discussing fame & attention being the cons of popping off dressed in a whole Gucci fit. “Hunger Flow” featuring Justin Credible keeps the kicks & snares tightened getting murderous while “Quema Quema” goes full-blown Latin trap.

“Rings” enlists Shaq on the mic 1 last time nearing the conclusion of L.Aliens providing a jazzy trap fusion treating hip hop like a sport when it really ain’t no game & “Busca La Muerte” serves as a 2-minute Latin closer talking those that seek death. “I Swear to God” begins the deluxe run drumlessly guiding lost souls while the cloudy trap joint “Chingasu” shows off a more carefree attitude from the duo.

The aggressiveness of “This Ain’t What You Want” fits the horn heavy sound as they caution everyone who wants smoke with them that they really don’t while “Poplock” featuring Hoodlum experiments with the Memphis scene painting imagery of the gangsta lifestyle while “Brown Boys Rollin’” finds them rollin’ through the hood & being misunderstood as Mexican-Americans.

“Rest of Yo Life” smoothly refuses to wife up any woman who’ll give them children & no wedding rings while the boom bap “Onyx” talks trying to live & drugs ruling everything around them. “New Era Cypher” featuring Rowdy Racks continues to show some Mobb Deep inspiration from the beat to the aggressive lyricism from all 3 of them while the sample-heavy “1 More Time” looks to spin the block if they don’t get ‘em. The final bonus track “Afraid of Losing You” ends the deluxe with a shot at R&B & showing vulnerability in the process.

In comparison to Thicker than Water, the Morales brothers’ sophomore effort here takes them to a whole new level as one of the hottest up-&-coming groups in the west coast hip hop scene. The production goes from boom bap to trap, jazz rap, cloud rap, Latin music, southern hip hop, soul music & even psychedelia turning the punchlines up to 11 & invite a pretty tight list of guests along with them for the ride. It’s also cool that they show their influences & put their own spin on the styles they culminate in a melting pot.

Score: 4/5

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