O.T. the Real – “The Wars I’ve Won” review

Brand new EP & the 9th altogether from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania emcee O.T. the Real. Getting his start in the underground almost a decade ago after coming home from prison & dropping his debut single “Papercuts”, his profile began to grow from there after showcasing his skills on radio stations or dropping 9 albums as well as a mixtape & his last 8 EPs. My favorites being the Heatmakerz-produced 3rd EP The Irishman & the DJ Green Lantern-produced 3rd album Broken Glass that dropped on my 25th birthday & the Statik Selektah produced Maxed Out. No Matter What, Desperation of December, It’s Almost Over & Red Summer were all hit or miss for me until O.T. finally signed to Black Soprano Family Records & enlisted araabMUZIK for Zombie to critical acclaim. Prepare for War & Pale Horse were ok, following up Moving Base O.T.’s eponymous debut showed improvement as did the Nickel Plated produced Cost of Living & The Devil You Know. 38 Spesh fully produced Possession with Intent a couple months ago & it’s my favorite of his in 2025, tapping in with Chop-La-Rok & Rare Scrilla to flex The Wars I’ve Won.

“Bird Flu” opens with a drumless rap rock instrumental advising to respect the chain of command whereas “Fishtown” work in a vocal sample talking about being quick to hit the highway since it’s a perfect plan to him. “Life+Life” featuring Benny the Butcher & T.F finds the trio over a boom bap beat ruthlessly attacking those who fucked around & woke the sleeping dogs up leading into “Soldiers” remembering a homie of his who got killed by a cop.

As for “Small Cars”, we have O.T. over more rap rock production talking about only smoking these days while “Floor Boat” asks God if he can get in Heaven still on top of a drumless guitar. “Everybody’s Gone” talks about the streets & fans adoring him maintaining a rap rock sound while “Mick Jagger” grittily boasts of him rolling with stones. “End of the Day” finishes The Wars I’ve Won giving a middle finger to beef since he’s eating better now.

Chop-La-Rok & Rare Scrilla’s production on Benny’s 6th EP Pyrex Picasso & Rick Hyde’s 10th EP Lupara are still enjoyable now than they were when both of them dropped, but them doing a new extended play with another skilled member from the B$F crew almost rivals O.T. the Real’s debut for TCF almost 3 months earlier. The jazzy boom bap styles of Possession with Intent are being carried over with hints of rap rock along with drumless & chipmunk soul added to the mix, soundtracking the descriptions of his battle victories.

Score: 4/5

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O.T. the Real – “Possession with Intent” review

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania emcee O.T. the Real making his TCF Music Group debut with his 9th studio LP. Getting his start in the underground almost a decade ago after coming home from prison & dropping his debut single “Papercuts”, his profile began to grow from there after showcasing his skills on radio stations or dropping his last 8 albums as well as a mixtape & 8 EPs. My favorites being the Heatmakerz-produced 3rd EP The Irishman & the DJ Green Lantern-produced 3rd album Broken Glass that dropped on my 25th birthday & the Statik Selektah produced Maxed Out. No Matter What, Desperation of December, It’s Almost Over & Red Summer were all hit or miss for me until O.T. finally signed to Black Soprano Family Records & enlisted araabMUZIK for Zombie to critical acclaim. Prepare for War & Pale Horse were ok, following up Moving Base O.T.’s eponymous debut showed improvement as did the Nickel Plated produced Cost of Living & The Devil You Know. That said: 38 Spesh fully producing Possession with Intent had me feel like this could be a special entry in O.T.’s catalog & the singles hinting towards it. Especially ahead of Shane Taylor Promotions becoming the new ROH World 6-Man Tag Team Champions & La Facción Ingobernable becoming the new ROH World Tag Team Champions when Death Before Dishonor XXII takes place at 2300 Arena a.k.a. ECW Arena.

“18 Ballgames” opens with some jazzy horns splitting a rat’s shit in half & dipped before the cops came whereas “Never Saw Me” hops over a boom bap instrumental with some pianos to talk about having people who depend on him. “Big Fish” featuring Grafh brings the brass instrumentation back in effect referencing my favorite show of all-time Breaking Bad leading into “For the Face” talking about friends becoming foes & grams turning into ounces.

Amir Ali joins O.T. for a shimmery “Philly Special” advising to make money because money won’t make you while “Americans” talks about the possibility of his enemies winding up dead or behind bars serving life. “Grease” featuring Dave East chops up a soul sample so the pair can talk about the work their plugs gave them just before “Warlock” takes it back to the basement instrumentally pleading not to blame him since he doesn’t mess with fentanyl

“Richer” featuring Flee Lord gets the ball rollin’ on the final leg of Possession with Intent responding to criticisms of being in their bags too much while the cinematically grimy “Jon Jek” talks about lasting longer than the beef you got if you mind your business. The jazzy “Streets Alone” speaks on putting family over everything & “Doin’ Bad” finishes the LP with 1 more boom bap joint addressing his past beefs.

Granted I did enjoy O.T. the Real’s last couple projects with Nickel Plated, the singles we got out of the Possession with Intent rollout had me feeling like it would become another one of his most essential LPs. Lo & behold: The most I’ve enjoyed an O.T. solo project since Zombie. A good 75% of the guests stick the landing in terms of their performances, but he & 38 Spesh both make for a pretty damn good MC/producer pairing.

Score: 4.5/5

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O.T. the Real – “The Devil You Know” review

This is the 8th studio LP from Philadelphia emcee O.T. the Real. Getting his start in the underground back in 2016 after coming home from prison & dropping his debut single “Papercuts”, his profile began to grow from there after showcasing his skills on radio stations or dropping his last 7 albums as well as a mixtape & 8 EPs. My favorites being the Heatmakerz-produced 3rd EP The Irishman & the DJ Green Lantern-produced 3rd album Broken Glass that dropped on my 25th birthday & the Statik Selektah produced Maxed Out. No Matter What, Desperation of December, It’s Almost Over & Red Summer were all hit or miss for me until O.T. finally signed to Black Soprano Family Records & enlisted araabMUZIK for Zombie to critical acclaim. Prepare for War & Pale Horse were ok, following up Moving Base O.T.’s eponymous debut showed improvement as did the Nickel Plated produced Cost of Living, so Nickel returning for The Devil You Know only makes sense.

“GOATS” grimly starts with this boom bap opener warning to watch what you say around him because you might wind up dead because of it later on at some point whereas “Silverspoon” morbidly keeps it in the basement instrumentally talking about making it out on his own. The beat on “Wall” kinda gives me a Griselda feel to it giving praise to the plug who helped him get into his current position while “Countryfried” featuring Smoke DZA cops a turkey on the low without knowing what it took.

As for “Highland”, we have O.T. over an uncannily raw instrumental suggest to watch who you servin’ just before “Eyes” ruggedly demand you show him the product & the bread right on the spot. “Insane” maintains the boom bap sound talking about staying outside trappin’ for what his leading into “Talez” taking about the stories of a hustler & wanting others to have his back whether it’s right or wrong.

“Devil” aggressively kicks off the final leg of The Devil You Know with O.T. getting right back in his zone over this rap rock/boom bap crossover while “Friends” featuring Dun Dealy finds the 2 talking about being unable to enter Canada & having homies out in Mexico. The song “Damn” is a dreary one reflecting on a homie texting him saying he needed to talk to him & “62” ends by explaining his come up was a dream come true.

Starting the deluxe run, “Bracelets” brushes off any notion of his competition being anything like him while “After Midnight” featuring SKNJ decently trades the mic back-&-forth with each other. “Carved” talks about being the only one who can see the blood on his hands while “Dead Opps” featuring Lik Moss talks about how nasty it is out here. “Lows” speeds up his flow over a piano-driven boom bap beat & the final bonus track “Junkie’s Son” coincides with his Long Bright River appearance.

Both You Are Who You Eat With & Cost of Living remain quality bodies of work within what’s already an impressive discography for O.T., unless The Devil You Know can now be included during conversation. Nickel Plated’s production for a good run of it primarily sticks out as being based around boom bap locking in with the Philly standout for another round of pressure.

Score: 4/5

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O.T. the Real – “Cost of Living” review

Philadelphia emcee O.T. the Real following up Moving Base O.T.’s eponymous debut in the form of his 8th EP. Getting his start in the underground back in 2016 after coming home from prison & dropping his debut single “Papercuts”, his profile began to grow from there after showcasing his skills on radio stations or dropping 7 albums as well as a mixtape & his last 7 EPs. My favorites being the Heatmakerz-produced 3rd EP The Irishman& the DJ Green Lantern-produced 3rd album Broken Glass that dropped on my 25th birthday & the Statik Selektah produced Maxed Out. No Matter What, Desperation of December, It’s Almost Over & Red Summer were all hit or miss for me until O.T. finally signed to Black Soprano Family Records & enlisted araabMUZIK for Zombie to critical acclaim. Prepare for War & Pale Horse were ok, but Nickel Plated producing Cost of Living happened to peak my interest.

“Kicked” begins by hopping on top of this eerie boom bap instrumental putting listeners on game teaching that there are only 3 types of people in this world whereas “Mahomes” works in more kicks & snares with eerie piano chords referencing the titular Kansas City Chiefs quarterback. “Eminem” morbidly talks about having a white girl in the trunk much like the titular Detroit icon’s now deceased alter ego Slim Shady just before “Footstep” declares putting his trust in the scales over bitches.

Finishing the Cost of Living’s first leg, “Blow” ruggedly suggests getting rid of the cocaine while “Yet” starts the other half talking about how you can’t be out here drawing if you wanna keep continuing to win in the streets. After the “241” skit, “Naked” pays homage to those who never made it or never saved it when they had it while “Bridesburg” represents the titular neighborhood in his hometown. “Amputate” closes the EP cautioning that hoodie season’s coming over pianos.

Zombie was the most I’ve enjoyed a project from O.T. in nearly 2 years, the Moving Base O.T. album from a few months ago showed us the duo’s tightly raw chemistry & now this 10 track EP running at almost 19 minutes joins the latter 2 in further redeeming O.T. some of the more lackluster offerings he’s has given us in the last year & a half. Nickel Plated gets a chance to shine by cooking up a consistent batch of beats for the Philly lyricist to body.

Score: 4/5

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Moving Base O.T. – Self-Titled review

Moving Base O.T. is an east coast hip hop duo consisting of Fuego Base & O.T. the Real. The latter of whom has been making noise in the underground for the past several years now whether it be The Irishmanor Maxed Out & the other made his debut over a year ago signing to Black Soprano Family Records & becoming Hartford, Connecticut’s Biggest Since Camby. O.T. eventually signed to B$F, enlisting araabMUZIK to produce his debut for the label Zombie last fall. Fast forward 8 months later, he & Fuego are teaming up to put out their debut together.

After the “Real Sopranos” intro, the first song “Arithmetic” starts off the album jumping over a raw boom bap instrumental talking about every dummy wanting to be an earner as well as 2 rappers getting stuck 1 night & it wasn’t them whereas “Battle Scars” featuring Benny the Butcher finds the trio morbidly cautioning that those who think they’re safe are done in actuality. “Hometeam” keeps it boom bap talking about jumping bail & breaking the bond while everyone else was playing Pokémon, but then “Bodies” goes rap rock to catch 1 body after another.

“Overpass” featuring Rick Hyde tensely advises to let the junkies free since it’s already rampant out here leading into “Pirouette” featuring Allstar da Great grimily talking about a brick that’s all natural & a bitch breaking her neck after taking a sniff. “John Doe” featuring Sule brings the trio together over kicks & snares airing out dudes driving their girls’ cars like they own it themselves just before “BrownStone” aggressively tells the listener it’s either us or them & to pick a side. “Keith Sweat” ends the LP ruggedly detailing how strong the coke is.

These guys have always crossed paths with one another since obviously they’re both signed to the same label, so I wasn’t opposed to the idea of bringing both of them together throughout the duration of an entire album & hopefully Moving Base O.T.’s debut here is the first of more to come. The production is consistently centered around the traditional east coast boom bap sound, 75% of the features bring their own flavor to the table & each MC elevates one another lyrically.

Score: 4/5

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O.T. the Real – “Zombie” review

This is the 5th full-length LP from Philadelphia emcee O.T. the Real. Starting up in 2016 after coming home from prison & dropping his debut single “Papercuts”, his profile began to grow from there after showcasing his skills on radio stations as well as his a discography currently consisting of 4 albums accompanied by a mixtape & 7 EPs up to this point. Standouts include the Heatmakerz-produced 3rd EP The Irishman, the DJ Green Lantern-produced 3rd album Broken Glass that dropped on my 25th birthday & his previous LP the Statik Selektah produced Maxed Out. I haven’t covered his music since then but he’s dropped his debut mixtape No Matter What & a total of 3 EPs: Desperation of December, It’s Almost Over & Red Summer. All of which were hit or miss for me personally so when it was announced that O.T. was finally signing to Black Soprano Family Records/MNRK Music Group & enlisting araabMUZIK to fully prelude his debut for the Buffalo indie label Zombie, it raised my expectations significantly.

“If They Coulda, They Woulda” is a rugged 103 second boom bap opener having all the perfect samples of the dope that he be producing whereas “Turning Stones” shifts gears into trap territory dedicating this to all his homies who got it their own way. “The Crown” featuring an opening verse from Benny the Butcher & Elcamino on the hook lavishly talks about wearing the titular object on their rollies leading into the spacey trap flavored “Strong Survive” talking about only those who have strength will prosper.

Conway the Machine slides through on the jazzy “Just Different” cautioning that it ain’t the same when it’s you being the one to come & get, but then “Certain Things” featuring 38 Spesh addresses specific topics that they don’t even talk about over an eerie loop hooked up with these kicks & snares. “Ice Baby” takes a groovier route instrumentally working in some hi-hats too showing how he hits it with the ice just before “Blood Stains” featuring Rome Streetz drearily returns to the boom bap talking about having to wash the streets to remove the stains from it.

“Whole Shabang” featuring Amir Ali is an alluring trap start to the final leg of the LP comparing this music shit to the coke exchange prior to the trillwave-inducing “Anemic” featuring LIHTZ talking about how homie only had 1 life & he played with it rather than just staying with it. “JJ Reddick” picks things up comparing himself to the Orlando Magic player of the same name over a glamorous boom bap beat that is until “Fade Away” ends O.T.’s debut with B$F on a dreary note with kicks & snares talking about how you never know when death’s gonna aim your way.

As someone who started following O.T. about 2 & a half years ago when The Irishmen dropped, Zombie is his strongest project since Maxed Out & easily one of the best to come out of the Black Soprano Family camp this year as he is a more than welcoming addition to the roster. araabMUZIK’s production is noticeably more consistent than the mixtape & trilogy of EPs we’ve gotten from O.T. in the last couple years as they go down to the streets with one another to match their intensity.

Score: 4/5

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O.T. the Real – “Maxed Out” review

O.T. the Real is a 36 year old MC from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania who came up in 2016 after coming home from prison & dropping his debut single “Papercuts”. His profile began to grow from there after showcasing his skills on radio stations as well as dropping 3 full-lengths & 4 EPs so far, my favorites of the bunch so far being the Heatmakerz-produced The Irishman & the DJ Green Lantern-produced Broken Glass. But fast forward 5 months later since we last heard him, O.T. has recruited Boston veteran Statik Selektah behind the boards for his 4th album.

“Loyalty” is an airy boom bap opener declaring trust being everything to him whereas “Make It Count” works in a symphony providing words of wisdom for the listener. “Revelations” feels like something out of an Italian mobster flick talking about disclosure just before [Statik-Free] tags along for the soulful “Hardcore” spitting that rugged street shit. Meanwhile on “Turned on Me”, we have O.T. on top of some pianos & dusty drums taking aim at those who betrayed him leading into Merkules coming into the picture for “The Bottom” to talk about never forgetting what having nothing feels like over a cheery instrumental.

G-Weeder definitely has the weakest feature on the album with “Treachery” even though I like the production & the concept of deceiving people, but then “Windows” has some jazzy undertones talking about his coming up. The penultimate track “Came Up Fast” incorporates an operatic vocal sample discussing his meteoric rise in the underground within the last year or 2 & finally, “History” ends the album with an organ advising to check his resume.

I think O.T.’s been putting out some of his best work within the last year & you haven’t checked him out based on The Irishman or Broken Glass yet, then PLEASE give Maxed Out a listen. Statik remains one of the most consistent producers in hip hop today & O.T. continues to put his life on wax ever so sincerely.

Score: 4.5/5

O.T. the Real – “Broken Glass” review

This is the 3rd album from Philadelphia emcee O.T. the Real. Coming up in 2016 after coming home from prison & dropping his debut single “Papercuts”., his profile began to grow from there after showcasing his skills on radio stations as well as dropping an eponymous full-length debut & 2 EPs. His sophomore album Evil Empire just came out at the beginning of the year & celebrate St. Patrick’s Day with the Heatmakerz-produced The Irishman, but is now finishing 2021 by enlisting DJ Green Lantern to produce Broken Glass from start to finish

The title track is a cold blooded opener talking about coming up from the mud whereas the piano laced “Coke & Guns” with Benny the Butcher perfectly gets in their mafioso bags. “4 Wheeler” has a more drearier sound talking about being remembered when he’s gone leading into Millyz tagging along for the combative “Go to War”.

Meanwhile on “The Wheels Fall Off”, we have O.T. delivering a powerful piano ballad about riding until the end just before “The Details” has a more chipmunk soul vibe spilling his come-up on wax. Eto & Uncle Murda come into the fold for the downhearted “So Foul” calling out the industry, but then “You Do It” goes into a more bluesy direction talking about how there’s rules to life even though it ain’t no game.

“Serious Shit” hauntingly advises listeners that this is as real as it gets even though SKNJ’s verse is a bit underwhelming & the “You Are Who You Eat With” sequel is arguably better than the predecessor down to the organ-laced beat. The song “Philly Streets” basically tells you how it is in O.T.’s hometown over a groovy instrumental while the penultimate track is a wig-flipping freestyle lasting 3 minutes. The album ends with the guitar-driven “I Got You”, where O.T. pretty much looks back on his life up to this point.

I know I said that The Irishman was O.T.’s best work thus far, but he really might outdone himself on this one. The lyricism is continuing to level up at mindblowing rate & DJ Green Lantern’s production on here is much more darker than The Heatmakerz’ even though I love their signature sound.

Score: 4/5

O.T. the Real – “The Irishman” review

O.T. the Real is a 35 year old MC from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania who started out in 2016 after coming home from prison & dropping his debut single “Papercuts”. From there, his profile began to grow after showcasing his skills on radio stations as well as dropping an eponymous full-length debut & 2 EPs. His sophomore album Evil Empire just came out a couple months ago & to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day, the East Coast up-&-comer is dropping his 3rd EP produced entirely by The Heatmakerz.

“Non Fiction” is a heartfelt opener as O.T. spits about drilling it out with bars on top of an exultant instrumental & then the next song “Restitution” talks about waiting when he wanted what was his over a morose beat. The track “Carry On” talks about the hustle forever continuing on over an affluent instrumental while the song “Connected” with Jim Jones finds the 2 saying that it’s all about connections over some bongos & faint yet beautiful harmonizing.

The track “Losses” gets on the romantic tip over a stripped back instrumental while the song “Hold On” with Joell Ortiz sees the 2 asking who’s gonna be there when the laws & drugs are gone over a wraithlike beat. The penultimate track “Streets Again” talks about looking for a way to get back on his feet over some hypnotic vocal melodies & then “Relationships” finishes the EP off with some exuberant horn sections as O.T. spits about having 33 on him like Patrick Ewing.

Despite enjoying everything I’ve heard from dude up to this point, he really outdid himself on The Irishman. Not just because The Heatmakerz gave O.T. a more refined sound in comparison to his previous efforts, but the songwriting on here is the best it’s ever been before.

Score: 4/5