Coast Contra – “In Case You Forgot” review

Coast Contra is a jazz rap/trap group from Los Angeles, California consisting of RioLoz, Eric Jamal & Ras Kass’ twin children Taj Austin & Ras Austin. Their debut album Apt. 505 in the spring of 2022 received significant acclaim & their debut EP The Old Way the next fall, coming off being featured on Masta Ace & Talib Kweli’s latest albums Richmond Hill & The Confidence of Knowing respectively followed by the Austin twins’ appearance on Kamasi Washington’s 5th album Fearless Movement a year ago by teaming up with Toronto, Ontario, Canada producer Marco Polo for their 2nd EP.

“Mountain Climbers” begins with this jazzy boom bap intro wanting everyone who’s working all day to know that their time is on the way & to keep climbing making way for “‘08 Obama” co-signed by one of my top 10 producers of all-time Ye formerly known as Kanye West to work in a soul sample referencing WWE Hall of Famer, former 3-time WWE world champion, 3-time WWE United States Champion, 2-time WWE Intercontinental Champion, 9-time WWE tag team champion, 8-time WWE Cruiserweight Champion & アイアンマンヘビーメタル級王座 Rey Mysterio who’s said to face 4-time WWE tag team champion Chad Gable at WrestleMania XLI this spring.

The first half of the EP ends with “Shanghai Tower” gets romantic over a luxurious boom bap instrumental prior to setting out to make it right with their partners on “Been a Minute” backed by strings, kicks & snares. “Sunday Regulars” realizes obedience bringing a gospel/boom bap twist & the dusty, piano-driven title track wraps up Coast Contra’s finest work as a group with that shit you can’t fuck with.

These guys’ rise to notability has served as a breath of fresh air to hip hop fans due to the raw talent, complex lyricism, camaraderie & infectious personalities of all 4 members celebrating a decade together with the project that I’ve always wanted Coast Contra to make capitalizing on what makes the group so special. Marco Polo’s production strongly caters to boom bap, jazz rap & samples of gospel & soul music perfectly backing the quartet in reminding everyone who they are.

Score: 4.5/5

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Masta Ace – “Richmond Hill” review

Brooklyn, New York emcee, songwriter, producer & record executive Masta Ace back with Toronto, Ontario, Canada beatsmith Marco Polo for his 9th full-length LP albeit their 2nd together. Breaking out in the late 80s as a member of the Juice Crew collective, his solo debut Take a Look Around became a Cold Chillin’ Records gem, the next couple SlaughtaHouse & Sittin’ on Chromewere accompanied by Masta Ace Incorporated, the Interscope Records-backed Disposable Arts is a classic concept album about enrolling in after realizing how bad the situation in Brooklyn is, his M3 Records debut A Long Hot Summer is another conceptual piece except this one’s about venturing through his hometown before going out on tour with Fats as his unofficial manager, MA_Doom: Son of Yvonne was basically him freestyling over the Special Herbs beats paying tribute to his mom & The Falling Season focused more on his high school years. However with the 5 year anniversary of A Breukelen Story produced by Marco Polo passing by this fall serving as a near-perfect love letter to the planet, Ace is taking it to Richmond Hill for the sequel.

After the “December 26” skit, the first song “Brooklyn Heights” is a boom bap opener with Ace telling y’all where he’s broadcasting from whereas “Certified” featuring Coast Contra takes a funkier approach instrumentally talking about their respective certification in the rap game. After the “Cartunes” skit, “Hero” featuring Inspectah Deck brings back the kicks & snares in full effect likening themselves to vigilantes just before “Life Music” featuring Speech & Stricklin’ finds the trio in their grown man bag over a dusty yet atmospheric beat.

“Below the Clouds” featuring Blu ruggedly advises to get your head out the clouds & after the “St. Roberts” skit, “Heat of the Moment” is an acoustic/boom bap hybrid continuing to provide wisdom such as making your decisions clear since they don’t want to understand what they fear. “Jordan Theory” mixes synths with kicks & snares explaining that you have to give up your soul to cross this bridge, but then “Money Problems” featuring Che Noir gives off an orchestral boom bap flare tackling financial issues.

After the “Scarborough” skit, “P.P.E.” takes it back to the basement talking about junkies & pushers being everywhere while “Outside In” featuring C-Red & E Smitty has to be one of the weaker tracks on here respectfully as we’re being treated to a piano-driven love ballad. “Connections” shows passionate hunger by keeping his status high until he’s satisfied over a sample-heavy boom bap beat while the jazzy “Plant Based” talks about how he’s been eating better these days. After “December 25” skit, “All I Want” featuring Wordsworth following the by wanting freedom for Christmas while the bonus track “Al Dente” asks when will we realize we’re equal.

Much like how A Breukelen Story was mainly inspired by Ace’s upbringings, this time we’re being treated to a conceptual album based on Marco Polo’s childhood growing up in the titular neighborhood in Ontario & one that reaches the bar that was set by it’s predecessor over 5 years ago. They take the issues of the day head-on with clarity so Ace can use his decades-worth of rapping experience to slice through the producer’s warm soul samples & crisp percussion.

Score: 4.5/5

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Torae – “Midnight Run” review

Torae is a 46 year old MC from Coney Island, New York emerging in 2008 off his debut mixtape Daily Conversation & the follow-up Allow Me to Reintroduce Myself. Fast-forward to the next spring/summer, he enlisted Toronto, Ontario, Canada beatsmith Marco Polo for his next 2 tapes Armed & Dangerous and Double Barrel before preluding his full-length debut For the Record on Valentine’s Day 2011 by releasing the debut EP Heart Failure. For the Record would come that fall & a 2nd EP Off the Record consisting of outtakes from that debut LP arrived about 9 or 10 months later. Torae then put out his 5th mixtape Admission of Guilt a week before spring & eventually released his sophomore effort Entitled when 2016 started. He’s been pretty much doing features since then, but is re-emerging with Marco Polo returning behind the boards to unleash the 3rd album in his discography.

“Reloaded” is a grimy boom bap opener looking to aim at your spot whereas “The Return” works in an orchestral sample as well as some kicks & snares talking about being back up in this bitch after 7 & a half long years. “Makin’ Up” takes the soulful route asking if you rockin’ that ill shit just before “Oh No” flips “Remember(Walking In The Sand)” by The Shangri-Las a thousand times better than TikTok did talking about how he can’t be fucked with lyrically.

Meanwhile, “Grey Sheep” is another rugged boom bap talking about being here for the cash money & to last leading into “Life Behind Bars” shoots for a tender approach atmospherically talking about his personal experiences of what it was like for him to be incarcerated. “Mardi Gras” blends more horns, kicks & snare so than describe the way they mob the streets, but then “Rap Shit” is another sample-based boom bap cut talking about taking this seriously.

I think the gospel flip on the penultimate track “Days of Your Lifetime” is pretty dope as are the subject matter revolving around the fact that the days that we live don’t even compare to his on any circumstances whatsoever & “More Danger” is an incredibly raw closer paying homage to one of my all-time favorite KRS-One cuts ”Rappaz R.N. Dainja”.

As someone who got into Torae during my freshman of high school when For the Record came out & enjoyed that album as much as I did Double Barrel, I’m very happy to hear that he & Marco reunited here because this could very well be better than the body of work they did together 14 years ago. The signature boom bap production from the Toronto maestro & hardcore lyricism from the Coney Island wordsmith have always sounded great together, but they elevate it here over a decade later.

Score: 4.5/5

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Masta Ace – “A Breukelen Story” review

Masta Ace is a 51 year old MC who started out as a member of the Juice Crew. He released his criminally underrated debut Take a Look Around in the summer of 1990 & then after the Juice Crew’s disbandment the following year, he went on to sign to Delicious Vinyl & release 2 albums under the name Masta Ace Incorporated] He then disappeared from the music industry, returning in 2001 with one of the greatest concept albums in all of hip hop Disposable Arts. The closer on that album “No Regrets” sparked rumors that it would be Ace’s final album until he returned with A Long Hot Summer in 2004, which was a near perfect prequel to Disposable Arts. He then started focusing on his eMC crew up until 2012, when he released MA_Doom: Son of Yvonne. An album where Ace took a bunch of instrumentals from MF DOOM’s Special Herbs series of instrumental albums & made a tribute to his departed mother out of it. His last album The Falling Season in 2016 told a story of Masta Ace’s high school years, but was weighed down by an overabundance of skits. He has since been teasing his 8th full-length album over here with Marco Polo producing it in it’s entirety, a concept album about his hometown of Brooklyn.

The album kicks off with “Kings”, where Ace talks about unity & how the older generation’s parents were telling them the same thing they’ve been saying to the new generation these days over a punchy piano instrumental. After the “Dad’s Talk” skit, we go into the next song “Breukelen “Brooklyn””. Here, Ace links up with Smif-n-Wessun of the Boot Camp Clik to pay tribute to their hometown & all of the greats to come from there over a boom bap beat with some somber piano chords. The track “Get Shot” of course gets confrontational over a boom bap beat with a funky bass-line, keyboards, & some harmonious female background vocals while the song “Still Love Her” is a vivid yet mellow dedication to this woman from Ace’s teenage years.

The track “Man Law” with Styles P sees the 2 talking about counting your blessings over an orchestral boom bap beat while the song “You & I” is a dedication to Ace’s wife with some smooth guitar passages. After the “Gotta Go” skit, we go into the song “Sunken Place”. Here, Ace talks about being raised in the ghetto over some drums & a fair vocal sample. The track “Corporal Punishment” with eLZhi takes a jab at the industry over an eerie beat & after the “Landlord of the Flies” skit, we go into the song “Count ‘Em Up”. Here, Ace link’s up with Lil’ Fame tell the story of a raid that occurred in their neighborhood & the one sample on here where a bunch of kids are saying “1, 2, 3, 4, 5” is just flawless.

The track “American Me” talks about the current state of the United States over a soulful boom bap beat & after “The Cutting Room” skit, the song “God Bodies” is a continuation of the conscious themes of the previous joint over a druggy beat. The track “Wanna Be” with Marlon Craft talks about copycats over a chilled out boom bap beat while the song “3” is a perfect eMC reunion over a flute-heavy instrumental. Then before things finish off with the “Mom’s Talk” skit, the final song “The Fight Song” with Pharoahe Monch pretty much speaks for itself over a grimy instrumental with some angelic choir vocals.

I’ve been waiting on this for a little over a year now & the end result is one of the best albums Masta Ace has ever made. He‘s always been one of the most underrated lyricists in the history of the culture & he continues to prove that as Marco Polo’s production suits his storytelling near perfectly.

Score: 4.5/5