Mikahl Lawless – “Cult” review

Here we have the 5th EP from York, Pennsylvania rapper Mikahl Lawless. Introducing himself in the summer of 2019 off his debut EP Pen to Paper, he would go on to follow it up with Overture for the Ill & Broken Hearted as well as 13 & Kisses to Nowhere until Cody Manson made him a member of his Trife Life collective. Cody eventually introduced Mikahl to Scum, impressing The Gorefather enough to give him his own deal with Lyrikal Snuff Productionz & introduce himself as part of the roster on Gangri-La. Commemorating the 1-year anniversary of The Snuff Gremlin later this weekend, he’s ending LSP’s year by releasing Cult.

“Ash” starts with a trap metal intro talking about what‘s left of him being blackened whereas “Cold Snow” blends this cloudy backdrop & live drumming telling how he’s feeling on the inside. “Ghost” reaches the halfway point by throwing it back to LINKIN PARK’s earlier output while the title track embraces a synth-pop vibe singing to bleed out beside him. “Prey” shifts back in nu metal turf comparing himself amongst the hunted & the same can be said regarding the outro “In Absence”, singing about him wishing he found nothing.

Many of the previews sounded nothing like Gangri-La & The Snuff Gremlin whatsoever, which gave me the impression of Mikahl Lawless venturing out artistically throughout the duration of Cult & he does it well enough to the point where I can confidently say that it could be the boldest musical statement he’s ever made. The production’s more versatile exploring trap metal, nu metal & synthpop in addition to the horrorcore lyrics being primarily sung as opposed to rapped.

Score: 4/5

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Mikahl Lawless – “The Snuff Gremlin” review

This is the sophomore effort from York, Pennsylvania rapper Mikahl Lawless. Signing to Lyrikal Snuff Productionz a couple years ago, he made his full-length debut a few months later with Gangri-La & shortly after teamed up with MC Welchs for a collaborative EP called Carnevil. However to celebrate with the 2 year anniversary of his record deal, it makes absolute since for Mikahl to celebrate by unleashing The Snuff Gremlin on Friday the 13th & have it coincide with labelmate Chuckklez’ own sophomore effort Horrors from the Unstable fully produced by DJ Ill Sprite.

“Maybe Another Life” is this trap intro flexing that everyone wants a piece of the demonic spirit within him & losing all reason whereas “No Angel” talks about embracing his demons & asking for strength in the flames he’s feeling. “Hit the Deck” fuses trap & gangsta rap advising to drop to the ground as he lets shots ring out from his heater that is until “Let It Go” embraces the trap metal sound hoping y’all see the other side after tonight.

Scum joins Mikahl on “When I Think About It” coming clean that it excites them when thinking of some day reading of a couple people that they wish death on getting what’s coming to them just before the dejecting “Finding Distance” admits that he doesn’t feel like people want to get to know him. The anthemic title track aggressively represents his crew for 2 & a half minutes leading into the sample-driven “After Everything” saying that if he has to take a soul, he’ll go there.

“Kreepin’” brings back the trap metal vibes assuring that you’ll be purified through the flames of Hell itself & catchin’ him lurkin’ through his hood while “Relationship A.D.” takes 125 seconds to talk about his murderous tendencies. “Dead” mixes elements of rage & horrorcore in an interesting way teaching that sometimes blood has to be spilled to find your footing while “My Haunted House” talks about The Wraith carrying him from all his pain.

The song “Smiley” pushes further towards the encore of The Snuff Gremlin by giving everyone a dose of the very psychosis that he so happens to suffer from while the cloudy penultimate track “Low” talks about being persecuted like no other when he used to represent the confederate flag & Insane Clown Posse had a highlight on their debut album Carnival of Carnage called “Fuck Your Rebel Flag”, but I digress & mean absolutely no disrespect by mentioning that. The closer however “Bleed Out” ends on a trap metal note justifying his demons.

Some in the underground wicked shit scene are reasonably quick to dismiss Mikahl as a juff for the whole rebel flag thing & even putting that aside, I was still open-minded enough to go into The Snuff Gremlin expecting to get a better understanding of who he is artistically & I can say that there are improvements over his debut. The production’s more versatile whether it be trap, trap metal, cloud rap & a hint of rage to suit the horrorcore & gangsta rap lyricism that the east coast artist delivers.

Score: 3.5/5

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Mikahl Lawless – “Gangri-La” review

York, Pennsylvania rapper Mikahl Lawless dropping his debut album under Lyrikal Snuff Productionz. Introducing himself in the summer of 2019 off his debut EP Pen to Paper, he would go on to follow it up with Overture for the Ill & Broken Hearted as well as 13 & Kisses to Nowhere until Cody Manson made him a member of his Trife Life collective. Cody eventually introduced Mikahl to Scum, impressing The Gorefather enough to give him an LSP deal of his very own & introduce himself as part of the roster on Gangri-La.

“Stripped” begins with a trap instrumental demanding to put the money in the bag whereas “Snuff the Light” talks about repping Trife Life & Lyrikal Snuff until his very last breath. “Grey” goes for a boom bap vibe incorporating some pianos along the way carrying a curse until he finds his final resting place leading into “Wicked Shit” gets back in his trap bag talking about bringing that horrorcore to your speakers.

As for “Dagger”, we have Mikahl ending the 1st half of his inaugural LP cautioning that he has the temper of a maniac & lifting the clubs up whenever he steps up in that bitch while “On Go” talks about seeing it in the eyes of those who haven’t experienced real grief that they hate him. “Hollow” vents the frustration of feeling angry & fragile at not receiving the real answers he’s been looking for out of others just before “Becoming the Ghost” talks about transforming into a specter.

“Gang” featuring Cody Manson starts the final moments of Gangri-La with both of them living that Trife Life, explaining that their hearts are comprised of love along with anger & pain. “Leave the Planet” sends off the full-length calling for the demons to cleanse the Earth’s evil cancer & to be removed from the world we’re living in. The “forever juggalo” line has also stirred controversy because he used to represent the confederate flag & Insane Clown Posse had a highlight off their debut album Carnival of Carnage called “Fuck Your Rebel Flag”, but I digress.

For a half hour collection of 3 newly recorded songs & 7 tracks that’ve already been released previously as singles within the past couple years, Gangri-La welcomes Mikahl Lawless as newest member of Team Snuff with a full length debut that surpasses his earlier EPs. The production mixes old & new sounds together from boom bap to trap, wickedly holding down the mic by himself throughout a good portion of it aside from the very person who helped him secure a record deal obviously.

Score: 3.5/5

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