Tag: Majik Ninja Entertainment

L.A.R.S. – “Foul World” review

L.A.R.S. is a Detroit horrorcore duo consisting of childhood friends & longtime collaborators Bizarre of D12 fame & King Gordy of the Fat Killahz. The duo originally formed & debuted as The Davidians on Esham’s Butcher Shop mixtape back in 2008, but now they’re re-emerging with a new name along with a recent record deal with Twiztid’s Majik Ninja Entertainment & this 7 track mixtape preluding their upcoming debut album.

The opener “L.A.R.S. (Last American Rock Stars)”, sees the duo talking about partying over a decent rap rock instrumental from their DJ & honorary 3rd member Foul Mouth, who produced all but 1 song on the entire project. The next track “Put Me Thru” has a very surprising soul sample throughout & the way Gordy talks about this woman who’s being physically abused is super vivid. Also, there’s one line during Bizarre‘s verse where he accidentally mixes up Conway the Machine with his brother Westside Gunn (both of whom got signed to Shady Records earlier this year).

“Fuck Yo Baby Daddy” featuring Big T shittalks an unnamed baby daddy over a decent trap beat from Rooq, but I think both Gordy & T’s verses at the beginning & the end respectively fit the concept a lot better than Bizarre’s verse in the middle. The track “Lose Your Mind” gets gangsta over a sinister boom bap beat & the way they go back & forth with each other just goes to show how strong their chemistry still is. The song “Mother’s Best Friend” is a hilarious sex tune over a jazzy instrumental & then the penultimate track “Savage Life” talks about how insane Gordy & Bizzy are over a fittingly sinister instrumental. The closer “I’m a Celebrity” then boasts about the lavish life & the rap rock instrumental here sounds a lot more exciting than the one we heard during the opener.

I personally think Majik Ninja is one of the rawest labels out right now & I think this latest mixtape from their newest sign act is no exception. Sure it feels like an EP given that’s only 7 tracks & 23 minutes long, but Foul Mouth’s production is on point & both King Gordy & Bizarre sound as crazy as they’ve ever been. Here’s to their upcoming debut album & hopefully some solo albums from both MCs at some point in the future

Score: 4/5

The R.O.C. – “Digital Voodoo” review

One of Detroit, Michigan’s most underappreciated horrorcore emcees/producers The R.O.C. finally making his Majik Ninja Entertainment debut. Originally a member of the House of Krazees with Jamie Madrox & Monoxide, he later hooked up with Skrapz to put out 1 last album under the HOK name before starting a duo of their own called HaLFBrEEd when the Insane Clown Posse signed Twiztid to Psychopathic Records. Although they would only release 1 full-length under the HaLFBrEEd name titled Kontamination, it would go on to become a horrorcore classic. Welcome to the Darkside came out under Psychopathic’s now defunct Hatchet House sub-label & dropped Digital Voodoo.

The album starts off with the title track, where The R.O.C.’s talking about his return & the effects that’re done on his voice throughout the song are fitting. The next track with “Let Me Out” talks about how you’re worst nightmares will come true if their minds are let out over a dark, electro-tinged beat & the G-Mo Skee verse about how he became fucked up because of his cousin dropping him on a glass table isn’t bad either.

“Tear It Up” by Zodiac MPrint featuring Boondox has a murderous tone throughout even if it has one of the weakest instrumentals here & the track “The Chalmer” originally appeared on The R.O.C.’s Fucking Preylewd EP that came out at the 2016 Gathering of the Juggalos & it’s just as in your face as it was then.

The song “Dr. No” is basically him saying no to a number of thing such as letting you rock the stage with him & taking bullshit. There are some heavy guitars at some points on here & I certainly didn’t mind them at all. The song “Hecklers” featuring Kuniva & Trick-Trick is a lyrical jab at all the haters out there & if that’s not enough to get you in a pissed off mood (in a good way), the beat enhances the feeling of you wanting to start a brawl.

“Clouds Black Out the Sun” has a gloomy, ominous vibe to it but I’m indifferent towards the hook. The song “Still Running” has a decent beat from Strange Music in-house producer MIKE SUMMERS a.k.a. 7, but The R.O.C.’s delivery is on point & I can hear the sincere passion in his voice. The song “Disgusted” by the House of Krazees has a surrealist tone lyrically & the somber production fits in with it pretty well too. The track “Sleeper Cell” has some solid strings that’ll pop up every now & then & out of all the 3 guest verses on here, I really liked the militant tone of Whitney Peyton’s & I found R.A. the Rugged Man’s to be pretty humorous.

Both of Natas’ surviving members Esham & Mastamind appear on “What is Hell?” individually answering the titular question & the production is just thunderously sinister. The track “When They Hear It” talks about “zombies” being snapped out of their trance & the guest verses from Kung Fu Vampire as well as Prozak are just as hard as The R.O.C.’s opening verse.

“Zombies in the Apocalypse” is once again on some murderous shit & while but the verse from (həd) p.e. frontman Jahred Gomes isn’t bad, at times it kinda seems like he’s just yelling at the listener. The final track “Revels in the Dark” talks about still traveling from the hate over some ominous piano keys & the verse from Lex the Hex Master is rawly confrontative!

Digital Voodoo has been teased for a long time since his brief “retirement” & enhances what I’ve previously heard on The Fucking Preylewd last summer by surpassing both X-Posed & Oh Hell No! to become The R.O.C.’s greatest achievement as a solo artist in addition to one of the finest full-lengths in MNE’s catalog only a couple years since it’s foundation. He’s always been an outstanding producer & that’s no different here, but the amount of guests actually work out in the long run considering a lot of them are either his labelmates or some of the finest in all of the underground.

Score: 4/5