Ricky Hil – “10,000 Grams” review

Ricky Hil is a 35 year old rapper & singer/songwriter from Manhattan, New York who happens to be the son of fashion designer Tommy Hilfiger. He also has 27 mixtapes & 2 collaborative efforts with Psychopathic Records subsidiary Chapter 17 Records CEO Ouija Macc in addition to forming his own label Limosa Nostra Records, recently signing to Atlantic Records for a distribution deal & had SosMula formerly of the City Morgue make his debut for the imprint Kamp Krystl Lake last Halloween. 808 Mafia co-founder Lex Luger has been said to be returning to fully produce a sequel to 500 Grams for about a year or so & it’s finally dropping ahead of Valentine’s Day weekend.

“Hell Valley” begins by hopping over a minimal trap beat talking about giving a fuck less if he dies because he’s dead already & nobody caring when his day comes whereas “Slut” works in some strings & hi-hats so he can continue detailing the gangsta lifestyle. Things go for a cloudier trap vibe talking about people selling “Pipe Dreams” near him & involving themselves with the drug scene than the club scene just before “U Like Me Dead” pulls from trap metal instrumentally talking about riding a foreign stoned

SosMula makes the first of 3 appearances on the 2nd & final single “Blow” aggressively depicting imagery of gangsta lifestyle together including drug use while “Amerie” blends cloud rap, trap & pop rap to tell the titular character he’s more interested in her friends than her herself. “Sephora” boisterously talks about living life his way giving a fuck he offends anyone just before “1,000 Poundz” featuring Omertà continues the 2nd half of the tape moderately makes it known they ain’t here to play with hoes.

“In God We Trust” featuring SosMula kicks off the 4th quarter demanding to have the the racks through the money machine handed over to them while “Turkey Bagz” featuring Niko G4 finds the 2 talking about having their own set of problems that won’t be resolved. “Oxycontin” featuring SosMula reunited the pair 1 last time making bodies drop with his posse beside him & after “13” featuring Clowny talks about trying to catch a buzz in the middle of the woods out of boredom, the title track atmospherically ends representing all the stoners & the next generation of shooters.

Next month will mark an entire decade since 500 Grams became my favorite Ricky Hil solo tape & I’d still consider 10,000 Grams to be the most I’ve enjoyed his individual output in quite some time even if my expectations weren’t fully met necessarily. The evolved chemistry between Lex Luger’s production & the Limosa Nostra founder’s distinct approach to songwriting can’t be ignored, but it does start to lose steam towards the backend of it partly due to the increase of guests than the predecessor.

Score: 3/5

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SosMula – “Kamp Krystl Lake” review

This is the 4th studio LP from Manhattan, New York rapper SosMula. Coming up as 1/3 of the now defunct City Morgue alongside fellow emcee ZillaKami & producer Thraxx, they’ve released 2 full-length albums & an EP together up before branching out on their own for a little bit. Sos was the first to step up to the plate by dropping 13 Songs 2 Die 2, which was a bit of a disappointment in my opinion due to the features & production. ZillaKami followed it up a month later with HIS solo debut Dogboy & the duo reunited to drop Bottom of the Barrel the month after that, both of those I found much more tolerable. 2 High 2 Die was better than it’s predecessor & the Sleez Machine EP that fall was the worst solo effort of his yet. Signing to Limosa Nostra Records & Atlantic Records following the divisive reception of his final Republic Records offering Sleez Religion, it only makes to go to Kamp Krystl Lake on Halloween.

“Killa Season” begins with a bloodcurdling trap metal intro talking about shooting his opps on camera whereas “Mr. Anderson” bombastically flexes that his stick matches the kicks in his wardrobe. A favorite of mine “Kathedral” featuring Ricky Hil & produced by Thraxx blends a shredding guitar riff & some hi-hats to get on some gangsta rap shit lyrically leading into “Aaron Hernandez” referencing the disgraced New England Patriots tight end of the same name.

Moving on from there, we get more trap metal production on “Blood of My Blood” showing a bit of a Marilyn Manson inflection in SosMula’s vocals during the hook just before “God’s Country” embraces a cloudier trap direction & pens a more nauseating chorus than earlier. The lead single “Trench Brazy” was an impressive 2-parter Lex Luger cooked up likening himself to a pimp while “House in the Trees” feels like God isn’t answering his prayers.

“Project Baby” was another exciting single reusing the same beat as “Deception” by Cameron Azi from 13 months ago except I feel like Mula suits it better down to the additionally included sampling of “Pop Out” by Playboi Carti while “Spiral” angrily talking about running up to houses to put his gun in the mouths of whoever opens it. “Preacher” speaks of hooking up with the reaper & gangbangers repping his set while “Mercedez Brazy” takes a slower approach than the other singles.

The song “Blakk Bootz” winds down Kamp Krystl Lake’s final 8 minutes with an industrial trap sound talking about his preference of rockin’ an all black got while “Outlaw Squad” contains some of the goofiest vocals throughout the album comparing himself to a fugitive. “Circus Roaches” lastly ends things experimenting with a grungy rock outro talking about him trying to figure out all this shit happening recently while “Excalibur” starts the deluxe run going to war over a trap metal beat.

“Spin Class (Fitness for Opps)” cloudily promises to gauge out the eyes of those going against him while “GTA VI” references Rockstar Games’ upcoming action-adventure game of the same name. “Death from Above” talks about the sky & eyes turning red over a rap rock instrumental while “Walk ‘Em Home” boasting all his stacks are chrome. “Barbellz” featuring Ricky Hil intriguingly trades the mic back-&-forth with one another the final bonus track “M. Bison” has a bar referring to WWE Hall of Famer Mike Tyson.

None of SosMula’s solo effort have come close to Dogboy but surprisingly, Kamp Krystl Lake gives pretty good reasons as to why Ricky Hil signed him to Limosa Nostra Records & Atlantic Records ahead of 10,000 Grams. Maybe even the best Sleezy has sounded on his own ever, stylistically drawing from the trap metal sound City Morgue pioneered to cloud rap & alternative rock taking it’s themes after the iconic Friday the 13th franchise.

Score: 4/5

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Ouija Macc & Ricky Hil – “Problem Children 2” review

This is the 2nd collaborative album between Las Vegas, Nevada emcee Ouija Macc as well as New York recording artist & Limosa Nostra Records founder Ricky Hil. The latter of whom came up in 2009 in the cloud/emo rap scenes & the other is the CEO of the Psychopathic Records subsidiary Chapter 17 Records who has been the only other current artist on the label that runs beneath the streets other than the Insane Clown Posse themselves for pretty much the current decade. Ricky recently got a shoutout on the highlight “Olympian” off Playboi Carti’s 3rd album MUSIC last month & is linking up with Ouija again for a sequel to Problem Children ahead of Ouija appearing on the upcoming 2nd leg of JCW Lunacy’s Hella Pain & Diamond Rain Tour.

The title track produced by Devereaux starts with both of them giving middle fingers to everyone & spraying the walls with blood over a guitar-trap instrumental whereas “Upside Down” takes a cloudier route thanks to former Good Charlotte guitarist Billy Martin with Ouija giving props to Psychopathic Don & the wicked clowns’ manager Billy Bill for giving him game. “‘Till I Die” finds the pair talking about staying until the day where they take their last breaths while “Fucc ‘Em Up” fuses hardcore hip hop & trap thanks to 808 Mafia co-founder Lex Luger.

SosMula formerly of the City Morgue joins both of the Problem Children on the “Tavernity Trinity” introducing a new underground supergroup over a trap metal beat leading into “Ginsu” talking about death knocking on their doors & them eventually answering it. “In Vein” brings a trap metal flare back in the fold so they can tackle themes of death just before the internal emo rap-tinged “To Feel” talks about having loneliness to fulfill in their lives.

“Crème Brûlée” boasts that the weed they’re smoking on is significantly sweeter than dessert itself prior to “Nightmare Boyz” talking about people sneak-dissin’ only for the simple reason because of them not being legitimate competition in either of their eyes whatsoever. “Pray 4 Me” finds both of them discussing having 0 sympathy for their enemies due to life itself being an entire tragedy, but then “Buffalo Sauce” showcases a fun back-&-forth chemistry.

As for “Gone in the Wind”, we have Ouija & Ricky talking about death calling ‘em again & it all being lights off in the end while “Low Battery Warning” suggests to enjoy your emptiness since it’ll be as good as it can get. “I’d Probably Rot” shows an emo rap influence again talking about having nothing while “Storm Come Rolling In” admits to pain swallowing them again. “Moon Through the Blinds of the Bando” finishes by stripping the drums with parts of them feeling like they’re in Hell’s Pit.

The eponymous introductory LP was a fun marriage between Ouija Macc’s horrorcore twist on the SoundCloud aesthetics & Ricky’s cloudy emo rap hybrids, returning after 3 years to take it up another level since Ouija has evolved so much artistically since the last time he teamed up with Ricky. Their respective styles all come back & mesh well together once again to take every redeemable quality of its predecessor to newer levels.

Score: 4/5

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