Tash is a 54 year old MC from Columbus, Ohio who would relocate to Los Angeles, California to form Tha Alkaholiks. He would eventually drop his underappreciated solo debut Rap Life in the fall of 1999 under Loud Records & Columbia Records, which was followed up with the poorly received sophomore effort Control Freak a decade later. This new extended play on the contrary has already been teased for some time already & the Catashtraphe has signed with Fat Beats Records to finally put it out.
“Day 2 Day Basis” featuring Styliztik Jones produced by E-Swift finds the pair smashing on suckas daily whereas the funky title track featuring the entire Likwit Crew along with Q-Tip & will.i.am on the remix talks about the effects social media. “Shoe Fits” kicks off the 2nd half of the EP sharply reminding the world of the fact that the truth always comes around in the end while the closing track “Smokin’ Session” sends it all off entrancingly talking about smoking weed.
Widely considered to be the most lyrically proficient member of Tha Alkaholiks, I’m fairly confident that anyone who was disappointed with Control Freak will come away enjoying Addiction is a Drug more than Tash’s previous LP over a decade ago & hopefully it won’t be as long for him to go solo again. The production’s consistently better than it was back in ‘09 & I’m really happy he’s found the inspiration to continue making music.
Oxnard, California veteran Wildchild hitting us with his 5th album. A member of the Lootpack alongside DJ Romes & one of my top 10 producers of all-time Madlib, his first couple solo efforts Secondary Protocol & Jack of All Trades under Stones Throw Records & Fat Beats Records respectively, although T.G.I.F. (Thank God It’s Funky) & Omowale would be received more moderately in comparison. Regardless, I still went into Child of a Kingsman hoping for it to be his best since Jack of All Trades.
“A Kingsman’s Flowers” begins by take everyone on a trip down memory lane in order to explain the definition of a kingsman whereas “Season of Kingsmen” produced by Nottz talks about preserving hip hop since he like many holds it dearly to his heart. “Change for My 2¢” heads for a jazzier direction instrumentally to make some powerful social commentary just before the synth-heavy “Wing Chun” talks about remaining undefeated.
Things take a funkier turn on “Multiverse” feeling as if the boom bap in him has been restored whenever his feet touch the floor leading into “Bat Signal” talking about how he don’t play. The beat Nottz whips up on “Mr. Pinocchio & Positive People” feels reminiscent of the late J Dilla touching base regarding crooked cops while “Freedom Riding” talks about the late John Lewis.
“Black Man Blues” turns the jazz influences back up so he can break down the hardships of being an African American feeling as if his glory is trying to be silenced & after the “Where the Poem Lady?” interlude, MAYAH takes over a good portion of the vocals during “Kingsmen” for a neo-soul jam continuing the themes of preserving the culture’s 4 elements & the overlooked element of knowledge.
The song “My Utopia” brings a drumless guitar beat into the picture describing what a perfect world would look like to him & after the “Brown Identity” interlude, “Welcome Home” ahead of the Antwone Fisher outro officially completes Child of a Kingsman by recapping a trip that Wildchild took to Soweto, South Africa with the MC/producer superduo Liberation.
Conceived during his time away from making music to focus on being a father, Child of a Kingsman stands out as potentially the finest example of Wildchild’s ability to make room in his songs for other artists to shine. Blending jazz & neo-soul together, he makes it a commitment to unify cultures through music & paying homage to all of hip hop’s veterans with intricately powerful songwriting.
Xzibit is a 50 year old MC, actor, television presenter, radio personality & record executive from Los Angeles, California starting as a member of the Likwit Crew collective. His first 2 full-lengths At the Speed of Light and 40 Dayz & 40 Nightz under Nightz under Loud Records & RCA Records were prominently bout around the traditional boom bap sound, forming his very own label Open Bar Entertainment & fulfilling a 1-album deal with Epic Records for my favorite of his Restless. X later signed to Columbia Records to put out Man vs. Machine & Weapons of Mass Destruction, opting to release Full Circle & Napalm independently through distribution by MNRK Music Group & EMI Records respectively. Over a decade later, Mr. X to the Z is joining former UFC Featherweight & Lightweight Champion Conor McGregor’s newly formed Greenback Records to back his 9th studio LP.
“Play This at My Funeral” was a tight boom bap single to start off the rollout suggesting to say it with your chest if you want to make it out in the west whereas “Everywhere I Go” produced by Dem Jointz thunderously talks about rockin’ both coasts regardless of where he’s at. “Been a Long Time 2”recaptures the energy of a Restless highlight avoiding a conversation that was had almost 25 years ago while “The Moment” featuring Busta Rhymes & Jason Martin formerly known as Problem promises to fuck up any pussy on sight over a boisterous Focus… beat.
The horns on “Earth is Over” were a nice touch dismissing these muhfucka out here for being actors instead of experiencing the hardships of the streets like X has just before “Leave Me Alone” featuring Dr. Dre hooks up some organs with the help of Swizz Beatz so both of them can talk about wanting to have some peace. “Belly of the Beast” featuring Jason Martin aggressively tells everyone to manifest their destinies & making them into reality, but then the sample-driven “History” nods some of the albums that’ve inspired him.
“Genesis” finds him telling this woman that he can be her everything acting all innocent & her becoming his origin or beginning of something while “Perfect Alibi” makes his own a statement under suspicion of a crime he was in a different place around the time the offense was committed. “American Idol” featuring Symba goes for a soulful flare courtesy of Sndtrak explaining that they’re make to kill they own through circumstances they were given while “Crash” featuring Royce da 5’9” reminds us the million ways to die.
Ice Cube appears for the final single “For the Love”sampling “Quiet Storm” by the late Prodigy feeling the rain almost as hard as they did when they fell in love while DJ Battlecat provides a g-funk groove to “Shut Yo Mouth” featuring Compton AV clapping back at the people who’ve been doubting them. “Higher” featuring B-Real & Redman unites the trio for a funky weed smoker’s ballad clocking at 2 & a half minutes while until will.i.am flips “Everyone Nose (All the Girls Standing in the Line for the Bathroom)” by N*E*R*D throughout “Success” breaking down what that means to X.
Likwit Crew founder King T preludes his upcoming final album with his own solo joint “Notified” proving that he’s still got it 4 decades later with Beat Butchataking it into rap rock territory while DJ Khalil turns the funk up once more during “What U Like” featuring Guapdad 4000 talks about having fortunes on both of their sides. “End of the Day” featuring Domo Genesis& Tre Capital encourages everyone to do whatever it takes for them when it’s all said & done while the title track finishes by asking if you’re ready for the throne or something greater.
Kingmaker reads as more of a sign that he wanted to share his knowledge of the good, the bad, the ugly, the ups & downs he’s faced throughout his life & career that he attributes to making him successful rather than getting called royalty or sitting on the throne & being a part of some kind of hierarchy, which I ultimately feel improves on everything that made Napalm feel so mature during my sophomore year in high school over a decade ago. It may be the best he’s sounded production-wise in over 2 decades & yet, he hasn’t lost a step with the pen & the guests hold their own weight.
Styliztik Jones is a 42 year old MC from Los Angeles, California who came up as a member of the Likwit Crew collective led by King T. The west coast veteran has since built up quite a catalogue for himself with 4 mixtapes, 3 albums & an EP. His last 2 efforts have been entirely laced by local production duo DirtyDiggs & to celebrate Steezy’s born day, it’s only right for him.
Things kick off with “King Size”, where Styliztik talks about being treated like loyalty in the streets over a trumpet sample. The next song “Seafood Scampi” with TriState sees the 2 talking about how this time is theirs over a jubilant beat while the track “Limitless” talks about being back on his grizzly over some jazzy horns. The song “Do Something” with Planet Asia finds the 2 talking productivity over a joyful instrumental while the track “Family Over Everything” talks about staying humble over a austere instrumental.
The song “Ramen with the Tofu” talks about going Super Saiyan over some glistening keyboard melodies while the track “Alkaline” talks about his woman over a druggy trap beat. The titular song with Defari sees the 2 talking about getting a piece of the bread over a high pitched melodic instrumental while the track “Here” talks about how he’s still standing over a high-pitched soul sample. Then after “The Spread” skit, the closer “Momma’s Recipe” pays tribute to his mother over an organ-laced instrumental.
If Styliztik is gonna keep on working exclusively with DirtyDiggs in the future, then I’m all for it because they’ve really been putting out some of their best material together. Both of them continue to do a good job at bouncing off each other from the continuously elevating pen-game to the raw production.
Legends Will Never Die 