Tag: Moemaw Naedon

Moemaw Naedon – “River Rats” review

Moemaw Naedon is a 39 year old MC/producer from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania who made his full-length debut in the fall of 2014 with the Latebloomer-produced Circular Signals. This was followed up with Hard Head Mush Brain & Dr. Deadhorse but just a couple months after dropping a collab EP alongside Calig Kontra entitled Cult Theatre, he’s enlisting C. Scott to produce his 3rd album from start to finish.

After the “Pittsburgh Thril” intro, the first song “Awesome Environment” is a slick boom bap opener talking about having one too many drinks whereas “Space Log” has a more synth-funk vibe advising those not to kick the mic when they spit their last bar. After the “Midnight Rapper” interlude, JM the Poet tags along for the meditative “Owls in the Sun” to say they feel like they’re just getting starting just before Dinosaur Burps takes JM’s place on the aggressive “Summer in the Muck”.

After the “Where You Wander” & “Scene Before” interludes, “Hardly New Havoc” speaks on how shit ain’t really new with a moodier instrumental leading into the psychedelic “Off the Path” as Moemaw & El Da Sensei deliver a lyrical onslaught. The song “Death Shots” is a guitar ballad with the Galactic Brethren reuniting like it’s nothing & after the “Weird Places Heavy Stories” interlude, the penultimate track “Ringing Bells” takes a jazzier direction saying the reflections in puddle are to muddy to tell. “Pardon Angels” later ends the album with a beautiful instrumental piece.

Of all of Moemaw’s solo efforts, I think River Rats could very well be his best one yet. I think the number of interludes are a tad bit annoying, but his lyrics are amongst his most thoughtful & C. Scott knocks it out of the park in terms of the production.

Score: 4/5

Moemaw Naedon & Calig Kontra – “Cult Theatre” review

This is a brand new collaborative EP between Pittsburgh emcee Moemaw Naedon & New Orleans’ very own Calig Kontra. The pair have worked together on a couple of songs in the past like “Slime Volcanos” & “Old Times”, but are now joining forces with producer Pyramid Tapes (also hailing from New Orleans) to take their chemistry to the next level on Cult Theatre.

“A New Abyss” is a short yet evil opener as the duo jump on an organ-laced boom bap instrumental to talk their shit just before Lyrikill tags along the psychedelic “Lucid Fragments” to say they’re proud of their environments. Meanwhile on “Witches Sabbath”, the production has an almost industrial feel to it as Lord Goat comes in to help get boisterous before going into more conscious direction on “Magenta Brainwash”.

I think the prophetic lyrics on “Sovereign Sirens” are really great as is the cinematic beat & despite the brevity of “Pass the Vodka”, it does it’s job as an aggressive alcohol-themed banger. The song “Tortured Calculations” tells the story of both MCs pulling up to someone’s show backed by an instrumental while the penultimate track “Altered Beast” is a thunderous proclamation of being living embodiments of syllable evolutions. “Futura Dystopia” is a victorious closer telling everyone to stay late for the sequel.

Now if we really do get a follow-up to this EP at some point down the road, I’d be all for it because I happen to like Cult Theatre quite a bit. Pyramid Tapes whips up some of the best batch of beats he’s ever made & both MCs hit down some pretty provocative lyricism throughout it’s 26 minute run.

Score: 4/5