Doechii – “Alligator Bites Never Heal” review

This is the Grammy winning debut mixtape from Tampa, Florida emcee Doechii. Breaking out in the spring of 2019 off her debut EP Coven Music Session. Then following her next 2 EPs Oh the Places You’ll Go & Bra-Less, she went on to sign to Top Dawg Entertainment/Capitol Records in March of 2022 earning a spot in the 2022 XXL Freshman Class & releasing she / her / black bitch shortly after. However, she’s returning to make it clear Alligator Bites Never Heal nearly 14 months since appearing in the A24 Films drama Earth Mama.

“Stanka Pooh” starts the story backwards referencing the longtime Warner Bros. franchise Looney Tunes over a morbidly slow instrumental whereas “Bullfrog” goes full-blown boom bap with a bass guitar to talk about Twitter fingers getting your whole life logged out. “Boiled Peanuts” keeps the kicks & snares in tact maintaining a chip on her shoulder with the gang all here with her on a sunny day, but then the beat on “Denial’s a River” radiates a DJ Premier influence describing her rise in popularity in the last 5 years.

Moving on from there, “Catfish” maintains the hardcore boom bap sound referring to herself as the Ruler of the Swamp prior to “Skipp” shifting gears to trap territory ripping 25 crews quickly. “Hide n Seek” hooks up an atmospheric backdrop & hi-hats feelin’ hardline broke with nothing for her heart to hold just before the moody “Bloom” talks about finding her own place to grow.

“Wait” produced by Dylvinci ends the 1st leg of the tape on a cloudier tip advising that you should just eat what’s already on your plate & poppin’ since The Nanny aired on the Paramount Skydance Corporation-owned CBS while “Death Roll” brings a trap flare back to the table making it clear she got shit to prove with no time to fall back. “Profit” layers these hi-hats with a soul sample pledging allegiance to financial gain leading into DJ Camper giving “Boom Bap” a comedically drumless chipmunk soul vibe taking a jab at her critics.

Meanwhile with “Nissan Altima”, we have Doechii over a hardcore trap/pop rap hybrid telling everyone to increase their rates for her while “GTFO” featuring KUNTFETISH aggressively tells everyone to move out their way. “Huh!” shoots for a synth-based direction talking about being so 100 while the playfully subdued “Slide” discussing her man liking the way she grooves.

“Fireflies” nears the conclusion of Alligator Bites Never Heal with this cavernous 2-parter fed up with dudes calling her childish & pleasing to not be let down while “Beverly Hills” groovily talks her shit for roughly 3 & a half minutes. The title track lastly ends the tape with an acoustic/boom bap beat asking if you would dance for her even after hurting the feelings of this particular individual & the bonus cut “Anxiety” samples “Somebody That I Used to Know” by Gotye wiping the Sleepy Hallow version.

Even if I have ScHoolboy Q’s latest comeback effort Blue Lips above Alligator Bites Never Heal as my favorite TDE release of 2024, I highly enjoyed this mixtape more than her EP that I covered couple years ago. It’s a testament to her unyielding spirit & limitless creativity, additionally embodying her resurgence & reclaiming of power in the process letting everyone know she was born to be the predator.

Score: 4.5/5

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Cash Cobain – “Play Cash Cobain” review

Cash Cobain is a 26 year old rapper & producer from The Bronx, New York who taught himself how to make beats by using FL Studio & his mother having to buy him some equipment to help him in his work becoming a pioneer in the sample drill scene producing for everyone from Lucki to Drake & Don Toliver. He later made it onto this year’s XXL Freshman Class publicly admitting that the freestyle he did for them was wack & that he doesn’t even give a fuck, so I went into his 6th mixtape wondering if he can hold a project down like Pi’erre Bourne or Southside as far as producers getting on the mic. Especially since his last tape Pretty Girls Love Slizzy is considered to be the best sexy drill project.

“slizzyhunchodon” featuring Don Toliver & Quavo gets the ball rollin’ hookin’ up a soothing sample tackling the themes of romance whereas “rump punch” goes for a significantly cloudier dancehall approach instrumentally making a bitch cum twice. The half baked “all i wanna hear” talks about this bitch’s pussy being the best & all she really wants is sex leading into J. Cole providing the worst feature of his career on the lo-fi sexy drill single “Grippy” originally titled “dunk contest” continuing the topic of intercourse & Cole channeling his inner Ned Flanders making her go strictly dickly.

The 2-parter “cantsleep / drunkinluv” produced with OG Parker starts on the soulful tip ahead of a beat switch during the other half refusing to let his new lover go getting shitfaced at 11 tryna get all in her pants while “Problem!” featuring Anycia, Big Sean, Chow Lee, Don Q, Fabolous, Flee, Flo Milli, Kaliii, Kenzo B, Laila!, Lay Bankz, Luh Tyler, Rob49, YN Jay & 6LACK is this tiring 7 & a half minute sexy drill posse cut. “slizzy poetry” goes drumless to lay more romance bars out on the table & “turks (i apologize)” sends an open letter to a woman he hurt.

“wassup (wya)” keeps the sexy drill vibes going describing a savage woman bringing the madness with her that no one wants to fuck with, but then ”message u” hops over a crooning vocal sample addressing his baby. “dunk” goes sample drill turning up the southern hip hop influences a bit maintaining the sexy subject matter while “luv it” embraces the dancehall sound further & has some of the most annoying songwriting on the tape.

The aptly titled “me n payroll” featuring Payroll has a deconstructed vocal flip throughout telling their significant others to not ask about their day before hitting it while “slizzy poetry, pt. 2” strips the drums again talking about wanting to eat his girl out like a dentist. “fisherrr” featuring Bay Swag & later Ice Spice on the remix was one of the better sexy drill singles demonstrating a back-&-forth chemistry from the 2 prior to “act like” sampling “How You Gonna Act Like That?” by Tyrese beating it up like Ike Turner.

“candle” featuring 4Batz nears the end of the mixtape fusing cloud rap, sexy drill & R&B together maintaining the romantic concepts from previously & 4Batz having the best feature on the tape while the song “some shit” has a moodier drill atmosphere telling his bitch that he doesn’t want her getting in her feelings at all. “baddest in the room” finishes Play Cash Cobain with 1 more sexy drill cut talking about the baddest hoe in the entire room.

Some of the singles building up to this tape left little to be desired for me personally & now that we have the full course in front of us, it’s less enjoyable than I imagined it being. I don’t mind the sexy drill scene or Cash Cobain’s production whatsoever, it’s just that he’s significantly more mediocre on the mic than he is behind the boards & a lot of the guests don’t pull off any better performances other than only a select few.

Score: 1.5/5

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Jae Skeese – “Ground Level” review

This is the 8th mixtape from Buffalo, New York emcee Jae Skeese. Starting in 2010 off his debut mixtape W.A.C.K. (Women, Alcohol, Cash & Kicks), it wasn’t until a decade later where he & 7xvethegenius gained wide exposure as the very first signees to Conway the Machine’s very own Drumwork Music Group. The Big Ghost Ltd.-produced 3rd EP Authenticity Check & the sophomore effort Abolished Uncertainties both elevated Skeese’s popularity in the last couple years. 5 months following the Superior-produced Testament of the Times, he’s looking to elevate from Ground Level.

“Brick After Brick” is a triumphant trap opener produced by Beat Butcha making it clear that he can’t be calm with this shit & the flame cannot be contained whereas “Peter Parker” featuring Malizah gives off a jazzy boom bap vibe thanks to Statik Selektah talking about hitting max potential to reach a higher leverage. “Situated” featuring Big K.R.I.T. & Sauce Walka connects the trio over more trap production so they can put in the work to reach the top of the mountain referencing the inaugural IWGPヘビー級チャンピオン, former 12-time WWE world champion, WWE tag team champion, 2-time WWE Hall of Famer & Real American Beer founder Hulk Hogan while “Lost Puppets” hooks up the kicks & snares again reminding that he doesn’t flow a certain way.

Dave East & Jay Worthy join Skeese for the pop rap/trap hybrid “Sara Lee” talking about wanting to hit bitches from behind while “EKIN 4” stands as my favorite in the tetralogy from the rugged instrumental that Ski Beatz & MIKE SUMMERS a.k.a. 7 cook up to the hungry performances. “Ohana Means Family” radiates a summery trap flare telling his partner that she’s where he gets his muscle from as opposed to being his backbone, but then “Glory” keeps it trap talking about repping Buffalo & that Griselda set the expectations.

“Wic Coupons” nears the conclusion of the tape on an atmospheric note making it out of the mud while “E4W” reunites F1RSTCLASS returning to the boom bap allowing the duo to make a dedication to those who came from the ground up. “02 Yale Cup Champs” featuring Che Noir & Smoke DZA sees all 3 of them for a dusty 5 & a half minute barfest while “Fruits of the Labor” featuring Project Pat ends Ground Level on some soulful trap shit from Ill Tone grinding all the time.

If anything, this mixtape is a testament to Jae Skeese’s evolution as an artist blending raw emotion & storytelling with cutting-edge production. Furthermore, he paints an illustration of where he is today & the highs & lows in his journey which would shape & inform the artist chock full of wordplay. As a fan of 4 years, I’m thrilled that he’s taking the next step from coming up out of the basement & building on top of the foundation he’s been building ever since being taken under Conway’s wing.

Score: 3.5/5

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YG – “Just Re’d Up 3” review

This is the 6th mixtape from Compton, California emcee YG. Coming up in 2009 off his debut mixtape 4Fingaz, this was followed up with 4 more tapes prior to Jeezy discovering him in 2013 & landing him a deal with his Def Jam Recordings imprint CTE World. YG’s potential would begin to show in the form of his full-length debut My Krazy Life & came into his own on the sophomore effort Still Brazy launching his own label 400 Records around that same time period, but the next 4 albums Stay Dangerous as well as 4Real 4Real, My Life 400 & I Got Issues all received mixed to poor responses. Couple years later, he’s taking it back to his roots on the 3rd installment of the Just Re’d Up series.

“Go Brazy” featuring the Baby Stone Gorillas reunites with DJ Mustard on some ratchet shit advising that everyone listening should be getting loose whereas “Right Now” works in pianos & hi-hats flexing that his girl is fucking with a real one. “Only Fans” featuring Jaye Anderson is this decent R&B/pop rap fusion with horns tackling the themes of love while “She Pretty” featuring Saweetie has a symphonic trap vibe altogether showing off the beauty of women.

Larry June joins YG for “Put It in My Head” talking how fly they are over finger-snaps & keys just before “Street Love” featuring Diamond Platnumz kinda has a bit of a weird dancehall influence with some vibraphones discussing the titular kind of romance. “Her Way <3” featuring Kalan.FrFr brings a cloudy pop rap groove to the table asking what’s good with that pussy while “It’s Givin’” featuring Ty$ produced by DJ Camper, FNZ & Wax Motif finds the 2 talking about wanting to send their lovers to the hospital for the sex being too good.

After the interlude, “Malibu” featuring G Herbo & Tee Grizzley embraces the Detroit trap style allowing all 3 of them flexing the shit they be doing in the titular California city while “Violence” has a darker atmosphere to the beat reminding the way people be dyin’ around his parts. “Rescue Me” featuring Ty$ has one of my favorite instrumentals on the tape courtesy of Wheezy asking to be saved from the many eaters in the SUV while “Kolors” featuring Ackrite & Mozzy was an average nervous cut with Mozzy having the better feature of the 2.

“Love Make” mainly has a calmer pop rap sound throughout continuing to delve further into the themes of intercourse while “Stupid” featuring Babyface Ray & Lil Yachty sees the trio uniting for a flute-tinged club banger making it out the block similarly to the game of Tetris itself. “My Favorite” featuring Kalan.FrFr again cloudily tells their significant others that they wanna lay up with them while “Knocka” charmingly promises that 400 can’t be stopped.

As the final moments of the Just Re’d Up 3 draw closer & closer, the penultimate track “Pimp My Ride” brings this cool psychedelic guitar lead into the picture talking about that he might as well deck out his whip since he’s got $1M on him & “I’m in Love” smoothly finishes up the mixtape by coming clean professing that he’s been lovestruck as of late.

Nearly 8 years in the making, the final installment of the Just Re’d Up trilogy proves to be a slight cut above I Got Issues with average results much like how the first 2 entries of the series were received. Even if it’s great to hear him & Mustard working with each other again, the overabundance of romantic pop rap cuts & radio hits feel forced considering the fact that he’s not even on a major label anymore.

Score: 3/5

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Gucci Mane – “G.O.A.T. (Greatest Of All Trappers)” review

I believe this is the 56th mixtape from Atlanta, Georgia rapper as well as record executive & entrepreneur Gucci Mane. Emerging in the mid-2000s becoming one of the Big 3 pioneers in trap music alongside T.I. & Jeezy, he also has one of if not the largest discography throughout the entire subgenre that continues to grow today. He spent a good bulk of this decade signing acts to 1017 Global putting out a number of showcase compilations that successfully gave these newer cats more exposure. Wop’s previous solo effort Breath of Fresh Air last fall was just a middle-of-the-road double disc experience & is having DJ Drama host the long-awaited G.O.A.T. (Greatest Of All Trappers).

The title track gets us started by referring to himself as the Greatest Of All Trappers over a bouncy trap instrumental whereas “Rich Niggaz” has a more playful atmosphere to the beat from Zaytoven talking about starting to become rich 18 years ago. “Kicked In” produced by Honorable C.N.O.T.E. energetically explains that you can’t get high without these hoes because they’ll give you herpes leading into “Questions” grittily observing all these broke muhfuckas lookin’ sad out here.

“Leak” humorously talks about a hoe as fine as Kim Kardashian the night before & waking up the next morning lookin’ like Chief Keef without makeup while “Hypocrites” calling out those sayin’ it ain’t about the money on their bullshit knowing good & well that it really is. The sequel to “Making Love to the Money” picks up where The Appeal: Georgia’s Most Wanted highlight left off just before “4 Lifers” triumphantly gets his flowers since Wop gave life to the culture.

Starting the tape’s final leg, “I Told Myself” talks looking like $500M every time you see him over a suspenseful trap instrumental while “1 Thing About It” vibrantly pushes towards the conclusion by getting with some of that paper. “Chanel Bag” featuring JT formerly of the City Girls has an eerier beat looking to maintain each other’s statuses as fly & “TakeDat” ends the G.O.A.T. (Greatest Of All Trappers) with a vicious diss aimed at Puff Daddy a.k.a. P. Diddy or Diddy.

Gucci’s discography is large enough to the point where it’s accepted that he’s gonna have some misses & G.O.A.T. (Greatest Of All Trappers) easily stands as the most I’ve enjoyed a project from him since Ice Daddy in the summer of 2021 commemorating him becoming a father. There’s obviously much less filler than there was on Breath of Fresh Air, the production has improved & the 1017 founder reassured his status in the trap subgenre.

Score: 3.5/5

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Kevin Abstract – “glue” review

Corpus Christi, Texas rapper, singer/songwriter, producer & director Kevin Abstract following up his 5th LP Blanket with his 4th official mixtape. Making his debut in 2014 in the form of MTV1987, he followed it up 2 years later with the fantastic sophomore effort American Boyfriend: A Suburban Love Story & rose to stardom as the de facto leader of the now defunct BROCKHAMPTON collective the year after. Both of Kevin’s solo efforts afterwards ARIZONA baby & The Family were solid although I liked the latter more for being chipmunk soul heavy & Blanket improved by going indie rock. Now that the summer nears its final month, Kevin’s putting glue together.

“Dirty Boy Swag” produced by Quadeca starts off the tape pulling inspiration from Lil B & Kevin showing off his titular swagger whereas “Kobe” talks about adopting the late Lakers icon’s mentality over a cloudy & illbient instrumental. “Jefferson” finds Romil Hemnani sampling “ELEMENT.” by Kendrick Lamar feeling like his father truly loves him leading into the highly anticipated collaboration “Tennessee” featuring Lil Nas X fuses trap, pop rap, cloud rap, alternative R&B, dirty south & regalia with the help of Devstacks talking about meeting guys in the titular state.

Meanwhile on “Beautiful Dumb Boys”, we have Kevin taking it back to the Blanket era coming to the realization that he has to break up with this guy just before the creatively fun 2-parter “Diamondz N Cash” featuring HVN & Lil Yachty gets unearthed from the Beverly Daze sessions telling us what they think of when they wake up. “2am Halcyon” has a bit of a Ye or the Nazi formerly known as Kanye West influence aesthetically rapping over synths telling his new man that he knows he wants to be with him prior to the bubbling, low-key “Creek” serves as an official version of “Green” allowing Romil helping Kevin return to form telling us what romance is to him.

“You’re My Type of Pleasure” sings to his partner over some organ-like synthesizers he feels like they know something about me that I hasn’t even discovered yet while “Big Dog” blends pop rap, trap & hyphy with the help of Kevin himself, Romil, Quadeca & Popstar Benny talking about how it’s lights out for him. “Red Light” reunites with Ameer Vann on top of an outstandingly gorgeous Quadeca beat wanting their lovers to stay in their dreams with them & “I Love These Hoes, They Don’t Judge” drearily ends glue talking about feeling the most fake these days.

The people that thought Blanket was a disappointingly average stylistic departure gonna find themselves enjoying glue more than Kevin’s last album going from the indie rock sound of the predecessor back to his hip hop roots whether it be experimental hip hop, west coast hip hop, dirty south, alternative R&B, regalia, illbient, cloud rap, pop rap, hyphy, trap or even a small hint of indie rock. It’s already been well established that he’s by far the most talented member of BROCKHAMPTON & glue could very well be his most enjoyable mixtape yet.

Score: 4/5

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Jerry – “No Receipt” review

New Jersey emcee, singer/songwriter, producer & music video director Jerry following up his stylistic departure of a sophomore effort lovemesooner by releasing his 4th mixtape 6 months later. You may know him for coming up as 1/2 of the duo MellowHype alongside Left Brain in the mid/late 2000s under the original moniker Hodgy Beats prior to helping I Smell Panties, Casey Veggies & The Jet Age of Tomorrow form the impactful albeit now defunct alternative hip hop collective Odd Future. He was also the first person in the Wolf Gang to put out a solo effort, dropping his debut mixtape The Dena Tape only 9 months after the crew put out their 1st tape as a unit The Odd Future Tape. Higashi Miyagi would go on to expand his solo discography with 2 more mixtapes & 3 EPs prior to his full-length debut Fireplace: TheNotTheOtherSide a day before my 20th birthday which to this day, I still think it’s possibly the most criminally overlooked offering that we’ve gotten since OF’s disbandment due to how much growth was shown on that album. Entitled was a solid comeback EP a couple years ago experimenting with contemporary R&B on top of a predominant west coast trap sound, lovemesooner was ok aside from moments that felt like a Frank Ocean bite & remained optimistic ahead of No Receipt.

I found the acoustic instrumental throughout “Resist Facts” to be pretty rapping about a woman who is so focused on him that he needs the analytics & “Of the Feeling” keeps things stripped-back instrumentally expressing his desire for wealth. The acoustics get blended with synthesizers for “Logic Lacks” asking if you feel like it ain’t yours to keep or it not being the time to speak just before the briefly minimal “What Truth’s Revealing” starts singing about a woman who called him a bad influence.

“Perform in Pattern” keeps the bare guitars rapping that he ain’t gonna be begging please if he gets down on 1 knee referencing marriage proposal leading into “Mars Saturn” hopping on a boat in the evening maintaining hope that he stays on & being the vehicle that drives his girl nuts. “Jupiter Returns” acoustically keeps it rolling telling his lover he loves her smile & the time they spend, but then once again stripped back “2 the Tavern” sings about wanting to party & bullshit.

Moving on from there, “You’d Rather” hops over summery guitar passages to rap that he’s having the dream of his dreams while the acoustic “Hype Die Down” sings about mixing addiction & obsession in a bowl of emptiness. “Nervous System” maintains the stripped-back vibes discussing a vampire while “Lie Down” acoustically asks his lover to give him what he can’t give to her in return.

“Wind Down” minimally pushes towards the final moments of No Receipt to talk about feeling colossally great hoping to teach all the lessons he ain’t even learned while the song “Like You’re” acoustically sings about being treated as if he’s garbage. The final track & subsequently closer “Tied Down” rounds out the 31 minute listening experience having an epiphany that he’s a fool for love.

lovemesooner was a decent attempt at singer/songwriter & indie folk with additional elements of west coast hip hop, emo rap & contemporary folk as is No Receipt although to a lesser extent. I respect that Jerry’s matured so much since the Odd Future era & I don’t have that many issues with his songwriting. The biggest problems I have with this tape are the repetitive production & most importantly, the Frank Ocean pastiche from last time carrying over.

Score: 2.5/5

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Tanna Leone – “Mixtape” review

Here we have the debut mixtape from Los Angeles, California up-&-comer Tanna Leone. Emerging under the original moniker Noviiimber & later Baby Santana ahead of settling down with his current name, he first made his footing in the late 2010s by releasing a total of 5 EPs until Kendrick Lamar signed him to a joint deal with pgLang & Def Jam Recordings. Tanna’s debut album Sleepy Soldier was released to mixed reception & his set during the Mr. Morale Tour was certainly captivating, so I was interested in hearing Mixtape ahead of upcoming sophomore effort Beware the Giant Killers.

“Role Model” is a psychedelic opener to the tape explaining that he ain’t the type of person others should be looking up to whereas “Psychosurf” takes the synth-trap route instrumentally getting on his emo alien shit. “Beloved” blends trap, a hint of rock & pop rap addressing a woman that he needs every day of his life prior to “Drop Dead Gorgeous” turning the psychedelia up addressing a woman he knows to follow his voice & block out the noises.

The woozy trap vibes on “Sound of Pain” are nice talking about the difficulty of being excited when that’s not how he feels at all thinking the world wanted a new artist that kept it real when he signed to pgLang just before the dejecting “Mr. Melancholy” discusses the incapability of feeling what he does. “Romanticize” has to be one of the weaker moments here once again rehashing the themes of love over a spacious trap beat, but then “Situationship” cloudily discusses smoking & drinking.

“Oh Shit” get on the boom bap tip coming to the realization that he’s human after all while “Bus Fare” has a slower trap flare to the instrumental dedicating this one for all the people that save money so they can hitch a bus ride. “555” nears the conclusion of the tape with a soul sample passionately going off the top for 101 seconds & “Warning Signs” officially closes the shop with an empowering ballad showing off his singing chops.

Sleepy Soldier gave Kendrick’s audience a glimpse of what Tanna can offer in the realms of west coast trap, alternative R&B & pop rap despite it‘s weak spots and Mixtape returns to every single one of those styles refining them ahead of Beware the Giant Killers other than additionally incorporating elements of boom bap as well as cloud rap & psychedelia.

Score: 3.5/5

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Wiz Khalifa – “Wiz Owens” review

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania rapper, singer/songwriter, actor & entrepreneur Wiz Khalifa preluding Kush & OJ 2 with his 22nd mixtape named after California fashion designer Rick Owens’ main line. Following his first 2 albums Show & Prove and Deal or No Deal as well as his 8th & 9th mixtapes Kush & OJ and Cabin Fever respectively, his Atlantic Records-backed 3rd album Rollin’ Papers established him as a star & stoner’s icon as did the Mac + Devin Go to High School film & soundtrack. Taylor Allderdice would also receive acclaim, although a lot of what he’s released since has been hit or miss with the biggest hits being Fly Times: The Good Fly Young & the Stoner’s Night collab tape with Taylor Gang Records signee & Three 6 Mafia co-founder Juicy J from a couple years back.

“Jet Lag” starts off with a jazzy beat, a flow similar to Max B talking about wanting the whole stash instead of going 50/50 & even a missed opportunity of not putting Curren$y on it whereas “Crispy T” featuring Sosamann & produced by Sledgren who did most of Wiz Owens takes the futuristic west coast route instrumentally in the vein of Larry June flexing his pack too loud getting everyone lifted. The “Uhh!” adlibs at the beginning of “Yellow Diamonds” & really throughout the tape feel bitten from No Limit Records’ heyday in the late 90s promising that he’ll show y’all too it that is until “1200 to Smoke” delves further into that west coast sound getting on his stoner shit.

Young Deji & 24hrs join Wiz for the final verse & the hook of “Gym Getting Fine” respectively blending luxurious trap & pop rap in a tacky fashion outside of an A24 Films reference leading into “Early Mimosas” giving off a summertime vibe unsure that he can trust this bad bitch he knows. “Innit” throws it back to “Like a Movie” from Deal or No Deal with the sax sample at the start assuring going trap again to end the first half of Wiz Owens talk about everything in his life being good at this point especially if the weed’s lit, but then “Movie Role” laces his vocals in monotonous auto-tune over synths flexing that this be his actual life.

“When I Was Young” gives off a cavernous trap flare to the beat finding out in his youth that you have to stick to your plan if you even got one while “On Bro” draws inspiration from Three 6 Mafia with it’s instrumental being fried like France & eyes like Japan. “PTSD” is a jazz trap fusion talking about people wanting him to come back when he hardly left while “Dream About You” reuses Ice Spice’s flow sampling “Complicated” by Nivea. “Smoke Break” ends luxuriously welcoming y’all to the private yacht club.

Unfortunately as much as I love Sledgren as a producer & the fact that he did 10 of the 13 tracks on Wiz Owens is amazing, the tape unfortunately gets dragged down by bad mixing as well as only a few underwhelming guests & even the performances from Wiz himself feel flat a lot of the times. Kush & OJ next to Taylor Allderdice are the best tapes in his discography, so I really hope he comes correct with Kush & OJ 2 since the original is held to such a a high standard in his discography.

Score: 1.5/5

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Denzel Curry – “King of the Mischievous South 2: Ultraground” review

Floridian emcee Denzel Curry gearing up for his upcoming 6th album by releasing his 5th mixtape ahead of it. Coming up as a member of the SpaceGhostPurrp-founded Raider Klan a little over a decade ago. He then left in 2013 & has seen quite the success on his own off projects like Nostalgia 64, 32 Zel (Planet Shrooms), imperial, TA13OO, Zuu & the Kenny Beats-produced UNLOCKED. Melt My Eyez, See Your Future went on to become his most mature & acclaimed body of work to date & I had no problem in him making Ultraground a sequel to his best mixtape King of the Mischievous South.

After the intro, the first song “Ultra Shxt” featuring Key Nyata is a Memphis inspired opener with both of them talking about never folding whereas “Set It” featuring Maxo Kream has an eerie trap direction that Oogie Mane of Working on Dying goes for telling everyone to run it right there. “Hot One” by The Scythe produced by FNZ mixes Memphis rap & trillwave together making money from the comfort of their sofas just before “Black Flag” featuring That Mexican O.T. continues to pull inspiration from the Memphis scene smoking on bitter motherfuckers & calling it sour.

After the “Headcrack” interlude, “G’z Up” featuring Mike Dimes & 2 Chainz has more of a symphonic trap flare to the beat refusing to hear shit until they get paid leading into the bombastic “Sked” featuring Kenny Mason & Project Pat following the “Lunatic” interlude explaining they’re about family, God, business & bread over a Charlie Heat instrumental. After the “Choose Wisely” interlude, “Cole Pimp” featuring Juicy J luxuriously paints themselves as big players while “Wishlist” featuring Armani White charmingly shows the lames how to do this.

“Hit the Floor” featuring Ski Mask the Slump God nears the end of the tape on some rage shit courtesy of ilykimchi dropping bodies 1-by-1 & the final song “Hoodlumz” featuring A$AP Rocky & PlayThatBoiZay ahead of the outro officially wraps up King of the Mischievous South 2: Ultraground with 1 last cloudy Memphis joint & all 3 of them painting images of the lifestyles that each one of themselves live. “Act a Damn Fool” featuring Duke Deuce & Slim Guerilla is a decently trippy start to the deluxe run wylin’ out while “Got Me Geeked” makes up for it from the Powers Pleasant instrumental to the carefree lyricism.

Key Nyata & Sauce Walka join Denzel on “P.O.P. (Paper Over Pussy)” heads for a smooth trap direction prioritizing money instead of bitches while the cloudy “Anotha Late Night” featuring 454 finds both of them teaming up to talk about shawties wanting to test the pimp in them. The final bonus track “Still in the Paint” featuring Bktherula & Lazer Dim 700 samples the iconic Waka Flocka Flame single “Hard in da Paint” capturing the raw energy & reality of life in the streets by conveying themes of loyalty, resilience & authenticity.

Everything that made King of the Mischievous South my favorite tape that Zel has offered us yet has been brought to a whole new level over a decade after a predecessor. He went harder on the features than he did on his mature magnum opus 2 & a half years ago, the reference points from which he draws has expanded significantly. He still has a hypnotic ear even though no longer cakes his music in warped cassette grime, it’s just that he’s seeing Memphis with new eyes now that he’s older & has a decade of experimentation under his belt.

Score: 4.5/5

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