Mach-Hommy – “#RichAxxHaitian” review

I believe this is the 6th proper full-length studio album from Newark, New Jersey wordsmith Mach-Hommy. Breaking out in 2017 when he dropped his sophomore album H.B.O. (Haitian Body Odor) under Griselda Records, he & Tha God Fahim fell out with them shortly after only to reconcile at the end of 2020 & then Mach returned to the label the following spring for the finest achievement in his discography thus far: Pray for Haiti. He then followed it up that same winter with Balens Cho & now only a couple years after the Triz Saga, the Haitian-American emcee is looking to commemorate Haitian Flag Day by releasing #RichAxxHaitian the day prior.

After the “(…)” intro, the first song “Antonomasia” featuring Roc Marciano starts with both MCs perfectly going back & forth with one another on some G shit over a drumless loop from Sadhugold whereas “Politickle” slickly admits to having a monkey on his back & that it’s rather a heavy one. “Sonje” has a bit of a mellower vibe to the beat produced by Georgia Anne Muldrow talking about flipping you like a kush bag out the mobile leading into “Padon” featuring Tha God Fahim keeps it dusty instrumental giving Raw cones since everyone wanted raps from him going to Hell & back with felons.

“Empty Spaces” featuring Your Old Droog strips the drums once again airing out everyone trying to spit the way they do except they’re tying ribbons at the wrong time & they be cutting them at the perfect end, but then “Sur le pont d’Avignon (Reparation 1)” brings a jazzier boom bap flare thanks to Conductor Williams talking about being a warrior rather than a killer. After the “Xerox Clat” interlude, “Gorgon Zoe Lan” hops over a bare sample on the verge of demonstrating a blowout just before “The Serpent & the Rainbow” keeps it drumless explaining how it’s gonna go from hereon.

Black Thought joins Mach on the piano-boom bap combination “Copy Cold” that Quelle Chris laced assuring that it’s all ok while the title track featuring 03 Greedo experiments with hip house & even pop rap thanks to KAYTRANADA detailing their luxuries. “Lon Lon” hooks up some woodwinds, kicks & snares wanting to be left alone & talking about Babylon ahead of the “Aux Bon Parfums” interlude.

“Same 24” featuring Big Cheeko these gorgeous piano chords throughout reminding that we all got the exact amount of time in our lives whether it be days or hours while “Guggenheim Jeune” ditches the drums again cautioning not to let them boys say it’s a wrap & that there’s more than 1 way to skin the cash. “Holy ____” wraps up #RichAxxHaitian on 1 more drumless cut talking about praising the lord attaching a gospel-inspired outro during it’s final moments.

Mach is no stranger to releasing music around Haitian Flag Day since he’s always worn his Haitian roots on his sleeve, but this has to be his strongest offering since Balens Cho about 2 & a half years ago. I’ve always wanted to rep for Haiti and the cultural and intellectual richness we’ve provided the world. You still get the drumless production & abstract lyricism he’s known for except he additionally ventures out into jazz rap, conscious hip hop, experimental hip hop, psychedelic rock, hip house & pop rap along the way.

Score: 4.5/5

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Mach-Hommy – “Dump Gawd: Triz Nathaniel” review

Mach-Hommy is a 39 year old MC from Newark, New Jersey breaking out in 2017 when he dropped his sophomore album H.B.O. (Haitian Body Odor) under Griselda Records. However, he & Tha God Fahim fell out with them shortly after only to reconcile a little over a year ago & then Mach returned to the label over the spring with one of best albums of last year: Pray for Haiti. Then he followed it up a couple months back with Balens Cho but given the significance of yesterday, Mach is enlisting Conductor Williams to produce his 12th EP from top to bottom.

“Fernet-Branca” sets off the EP with Jay NiCE & Tha God Fahim accompanying Mach on top of a slowed down piano instrumental asking what you know about them while the song “Eskimo Bros.” with Your Old Droog showing an incredible back & forth chemistry over a hallucinogenic beat. The penultimate track “D’Paramountcy” works in a bass guitar as Mach goes back & forth with Fahim as well as he did with Droog, but then both MCs stick around for “Leisure Earned” which is a lavish boom bap closure bragging that they got all the styles.

I’ve been wanting Mach to drop a full project with Fahim & Droog for a minute now, but I think this is the closest thing we’ll get to that for now. Conductor Williams’ production is abstract as fuck, Mach continues to reign as the current King of New Jersey as far as lyricists from that region go & the guests mesh really well with him also.

Score: 4/5

Mach-Hommy – “Balens Cho” review

This is the 11th EP from New Jersey emcee Mach-Hommy. Blowing up in the underground off his Griselda-backed sophomore effort H.B.O. (Haitian Body Odor), he & Tha God Fahim fell out with them shortly after only to reconcile this past Christmas & then Mach returned to the label over the spring with one of best albums of the year: Pray for Haiti. But in light of his Dump Gawds colleague Your Old Droog dropping Space Bar last week, Mach is continuing to apply pressure by dropping Balens Cho.

After the “La Prèmiere Bougie” intro, the first song “Labou” starts the whole thing off with Nicholas Craven weaving in some incredible saxophones wittily talking about being the new Rick Rubin & Russell Simmons whereas “La Deuxième” is just a decent interlude. “Separation of the Sheep & the Goats” incorporates a sweet vocal sample humbly opening up about his blessings leading into the “Magnum Band” sequel produced by the late Ras G which I’ll go as far to say is superior & darker than the predecessor.

After the “La Troisième” interlude, we have Mach talking about playing with the Heat longer than Udonis Haslem on “Lajan Sal” accompanied by an instrumental that gives me crazy Italian monster vibes just before the “La Quatrième” interlude comes into play. “Wooden Nickels” is probably the most heart-wrenching cut on the EP cautioning shady motherfuckers while the song “Traditional” cleverly uses the same rhyme scheme throughout over a healthy mix of horns & whistling even though it could’ve been a little bit longer.

After the “La Cinquième” interlude, Tha God Fahim tags along for the penultimate track “Money Magnets” getting on some boom bap shit talking about dominating the rap game & “Self Luh” finishes the EP with Mach encouraging listeners to treat their bodies like it’s the only one they got on top of a comforting beat from Conductor Williams.

I’ve been fiending for this shit hard ever since it was originally announced a month ago & my God is it a great follow-up to Pray for Haiti. The excessive amount of interludes are annoying because they’re all so short that there’s no point of them being on there, but the production is as equally fantastic & Mach still manages to drop bars that’ll make you run it back.

Score: 4/5

Mach-Hommy – “Pray for Haiti” review

Mach-Hommy is a 38 year old MC from Newark, New Jersey breaking out in 2017 when he dropped his sophomore album H.B.O. (Haitian Body Odor) under Griselda Records. However, he & Tha God Fahim fell out with the label shortly after only for both of them to reconcile this past Christmas. But since May is Haitian Heritage Month, we have Mach marking his return to the Buffalo powerhouse by dropping his 5th full-length album to celebrate.

“The 26th Letter” is a trumpet-laced opener where Mach goes on about rearranging the whole game whereas the next song “No Blood Sweat” jumps on a pillowy Camoflauge Monk instrumental to say he taking food out cats’ mouths. Westside Gunn hops on “Folie á Deux” as he & Mach tell all the fuckboys that they’re finished over a psychedelic boom bap beat from Conductor Williams before declaring every day as Easter Gunnday on the soulful “Maxron Jaxon”.

“The Stellar Ray Theory” was a great choice for a lead single with its sax-heavy production & the lyrics about cats “blaming clouds on the rain & the sky” while he gets in his storytelling bag on “Marie” & I love the “Hail Mary” tribute in the hook. After the “Leta Yo” skit, Mach vents that he keeps seeing Deedee & Stevie in his naps with Nicholas Craven providing him with a bass guitar & a vocal loop for “Kriminel” just before declaring that he’s in his bag on the Sadhugold-produced “Pen Rale”.

“Murder Czn” with Westside Gunn of course a melancholic cut using for blood while Tha God Fahim tags along for the rich “Magnum Band” to help talk about having 357 on deck. The back & forth chemistry between Mach & Westside on the piano-tinged “Rami” is fantastic & after the “Kreyol” skit, the song “Au Revoir” goes into a more rock direction with the help of DJ Green Lantern as well as lyrics going at “pussy n****s”. The penultimate track “Blockchain” has a slowed down jazz sample throughout as Mach explains that there’s too many information highway cats riding the wave & then “10 Boxes: Sin Eater” is a dusty finisher saying he’s been wavy.

As much as I really enjoyed Pray for Paris, I can argue that Pray for Haiti is one of those immensely rare instances where the sequel album is better than the predecessor. We get a good look into Mach-Hommy’s Haitian roots whilst sticking to the raw lo-fi aesthetics we’ve all come to know & love from him.

Score: 4.5/5

Kill ‘Em All – Self-titled review

cover-22-768x768 Kill ‘Em All is a newly formed duo consisting of New York spitter Mach-Hommy & legendary California producer DJ Muggs. The duo first came together last summer with the songs “Blue Horseshoes” & “Contagion Theory” off of the latest Soul Assassins album Dia del Asesinato, but they made their debut this past March with Tuez-Les Tous & if that wasn’t enough, Mach & Muggs are already hitting us with a sophomore album.

After the “Jolly Roger Introduction”, we go into the first song “Lady Justice”. Where Mach literally sounds like he’s rambling drunk over a soulful beat. The track “Apollon’s Wheels” gets mafioso with Your Old Droog sees the 2 over some strings while the song “Cessna 210” with Tha God Fahim sees the 2 flaunting over a boom bap beat with some sirens. The track “Force Majeure” talks about how far he’s come over a boom bap beat with some piano keys & while the next 3 songs all feature verses from Tha God Fahim.

The first of these 3 being “The Omni” which has a great atmosphere in the production, but Mach’s delivery is atonal & Fahim’s feature is boring. The track right after “Daniel Fast” sees then sees the 2 spitting game over a dreary beat while the song “Mount Tambora” gets bloodthirsty over a forbidding beat. The penultimate track “Anacoma” with Sick Jacken sees the 2 rapping in Spanish over an enticing beat & then the album finishes with “Titanium White”, where Mach & Fahim get back together to spit some gritty street bars over over a dismal boom bap beat that awkwardly changes up during the last 30 seconds.

Compared to Tuez-Les Tous, this was jus ok. Mach & Muggs still show a solid chemistry, but the overabundance of features kinda overtakes it.

Score: 2.5/5