Kurious – “Majician.” review

Kurious is a 54 year old MC from the Upper Westside of Manhattan, New York who originally came up under the moniker Kurious Jorge. He later signed to Columbia Records over 3 decades ago for the underrated full-length debut studio album A Constipated Monkey after shortening the stage name, returning 15 years later for the independently released sophomore effort II followed by a couple EPs: Koncrete Jungle & Monkeyman. For his 3rd LP however, Kurious has interestingly signed a new deal with Rhymesayers Entertainment & the late underground icon MF DOOM overseeing its creation before his untimely passing.

“Unknown Species” starts with this playfully jazzy intro hitting y’all with that funky new shit whereas “Untainted” puts more emphasis on funk music instrumentally talking about how the streets be promoting as much as it’s riddled with crime. “‘Tis the Season” soulfully feels compelled to spit the smartest within reason leading into “Eye of Horus” conveying urgency by weaving a complex tapestry of history & insight the midst of ducking through & under each pocket in the beat.

As for “1984”, we have Kurious over a sample that throws it back to 4 decades prior getting his b-boy bag lyrically just before “Teach & Forgive” brings a dusty boom bap flare to the table talking about everyone bring sinners & referring to the Earth as primal. “Separation Anxiety”, happens to be this a personal bloodletting in the form of lyrical exercise over this raw synth-driven instrumental, but then “Cow’s Eye” hooks up some horns to talk about feeling emptiness in the heart & the stomach burning being part of the game.

“Bacalao Opera” hops over a vocal sample charging it to the fact of protecting one’s inner vision while “Majical Journey” brings the synths back talking about respecting time so that it eventually respects us. “Barry Gibb” keeps the keen ear for sampling on display treating his people as if they’re royalty & “Par for the Course” featuring Mr. Fantastik makes drum breaks from the early Reagan era sound totally revitalized keeping this this thing of theirs crackin’.

The penultimate song “Open” featuring Homeboy Sandman nears the end of Majician. with both MCs on top of this drumless beat wanting to know exactly what the motive is recalling an unpleasant or embarrassing experience in the past that others would rather forget right after the “Majic” interlude, the closer “Come Back” has this symphonic vibe that I enjoy throughout addressing those who want the payoff & never craving chaos.

A mesmerizing blend of technical wizardry & personal introspection, the radical amount of work Kurious put into his Rhymesayers debut cements his place as one of the premier MCs of his time in addition to substantiating the legacy he has long deserved & removing all ambiguity from the question of whether he can stand as one of the premier MCs of his time. Mono En Stereo’s production feels nostalgically reminiscent to DOOM’s material & Kurious himself steps up his lyrics compared to his previous EPs.

Score: 4/5

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CZARFACE & MF DOOM – “Super What?” review

This is the surprise 2nd collaborative album between East Coast supergroup CZARFACE & one of the most beloved MCs/producers in all of hip hop: MF DOOM. The first time we heard Inspectah Deck and 7L & Esoteric team up with Viktor was on “Ka-Bang!” off the trio’s classic 2015 sophomore album Every Hero Needs a Villain, which was followed up in 2018 with the appropriately titled CZARFACE Meets Metal Face. But after being delayed for the past year due to COVID-19 as well as DOOM’s unfortunate passing, Super What? is finally seeing the light of day.

“The King & Eye” is a solid way to kick the album off as the quartet team up with D.M.C. to declare themselves as royalty referencing AEW performer Orange Cassidy on top of a boom bap beat from none other than The Czar-Keys with some chimes being incorporated. The next song “Czarwyn’s Theory of People Getting Loose” goes on about how “there’s no dope in the industry” & even though I personally believe is far from true, all 3 of the verses on here are cutthroat as Hell. As for the production end of it: I like how it starts off grimy, but the switch-up midway through Esoteric’s verse was a bit unnecessary.

“Mando Calrissian” has a Special Herbs feel to it instrumentally as the trio talk about going commando, but then the track “DOOM Unto Others” is an decimating battle rap cut. Del the Funky Homosapien provides the best feature at the end of the threatening “Jason & the Czargonauts” before talking about “continuing where they left off” on the jazzy “Break in the Action”.

After the “A Name to the Face” skit, the song “This is Canon Now” is a 7L & Eso solo cut taking it back to the days of A New Dope instrumentally & dropping numerous comic references. The penultimate track “So Strange” incorporates an organ as well as some dusty drums as they pop off about the thoughts in their mind & even though I like the storytelling on “Young World” a lot, it’s a weird way to end the album.

Even though Super What? is more of an EP to me than a full-length, I still enjoyed it as much as CZARFACE Meets Metal Face. The chemistry between the 3 emcees never fails to amuse me & The Czar-Keys stick to their guns in terms of the project’s overall sound.

Score: 4.5/5

CZARFACE & MF DOOM – “CZARFACE Meets Metal Face” review

This is the highly anticipated & unexpected collab album between East Coast supergroup CZARFACE & the renown MF DOOM. They originally collaborated on the hard hitting “Ka-Bang!” off of CZARFACE’s classic 2015 sophomore album Every Hero Needs a Villain, but now they are reuniting for a full-length project together. After the “Take Your Medicine” intro, we then get into the first song “Meddle with Metal”. Here, the Metal Face Villain alongside Inspectah Deck & Esoteric tell all the wack MCs that armageddon is here over an ominous beat from The Czar-Keys (7L & Spada4). The track “Badness of Madness” sees the 3 MCs bragging about their rapping prowess over some creepy keys & then after the “Closer Talker” skit, we then get into the next song “Forever People”. Here, the 3 charismatically y’all about how dope they are over some settle bass.

The track “Captain Crunch” is basically shit-talking the wack & to be honest, I think Deck has the best verse on here. Especially with how he started it. The 1 & a half minute “Don’t Spoil It” is a short yet head-bobbing Inspectah Deck solo cut that talks about the era he came from & being hip hop’s most wanted over some live drumming & a guitar in the background. The song “Phantoms” with Open Mike Eagle sees the 4 making a fancy anthem over a futuristic beat while & I love how the beat changes to something grimier during the 2nd half. The track “Bomb Thrown” is filled with creative battle bars with an eerie soul sample in the background.

After the “You Masked For It” skit, we then go into the song “Astral Traveling”. While DOOM doesn’t have a verse on this joint at all, CZARFACE & Vinnie Paz do manage to spit violent bars throughout going toe-to-toe with WWE Superstars Finn Bálor & Samoa Joe and the way the beat changes after each verse is a nice homage to “I’m the Man” by Gang Starr. The song “Nautical Depth” takes a jab at the current state of hip hop over an eerie beat while the track “Stun Gun” is a 7L & Esoteric cut with battle bars over some bass & an organ. The song “MF Czar” talks about how the trio & the Villain are hip hop’s antidote over some grim electronic keyboards while “Captain Brunch” is a decent remix to “Captain Crunch”. The album then finishes off with “Sleeping Dogs”, which is just a 50 second instrumental.

From the second this was announced, I knew this was gonna be great. CZARFACE’s chemistry has been proven over the past 5 years, but their chemistry with MF DOOM is stronger than it was on “Ka-Bang!”.

Score: 4.5/5

WESTSIDEDOOM – Self-Titled review

WESTSIDEDOOM is a newly formed duo consisting of recent Shady Records signee Westside Gunn along with the renown MF DOOM. They announced a collaborative project together just a couple months ago & it’s finally here in the form of a 2-track EP. The first song “Gorilla Monsoon” named after the WWE Hall of Famer has an grimy boom bap beat from Griselda Records in-house producer Daringer & while Westside Gunn’s verse is as mobster as always, DOOM definitely outshines him on here. Especially with lines like “Overstand the past to get a grasp of the present, I make it faster than you spends it. End it”. The other track “2STINGS” sees the 2 getting hardcore & the eerie instrumental from The Alchemist fits the tone like a glove. Like many others, I am disappointed that this is wasn’t a full-length album. However, I still enjoyed this EP. The production is grimy & both MCs compliment each other very well

Score: 4/5