EARTHGANG – “EARTHGANG vs. the Algorithm 3: Perfect Fantasy” review

Olu & WowGr8 also known as the Atlanta, Georgia duo the EARTHGANG closing out the EARTHGANG vs. the Algorithm trilogy with their 7th EP. Starting out a little over a decade ago dropping 3 mixtapes along with 2 albums & an EP independently, this resulted in J. Cole signing them to his Interscope Records imprint Dreamville Records in 2017. This resulted in a trilogy of EPs leading up to their major label debut Mirrorland, which revealed themselves to be one of the best artists that the label has to offer. They went on to give their Spillage Village collective some shine by dropping their 4th album Spilligion on Dreamville the next year & Ghetto Gods further cemented them as the 2nd best signing on the roster behind J.I.D of course. EARTHGANG vs. the Algorithm: R.I.P. Human Art last fall severed ties with Interscope to solely stay with Dreamville & gave insight on EARTHGANG vs. the Algorithm 2: Robophobia about the technological advancements we’ve seen in recent years, but Perfect Fantasy is all trying it in together.

“Godly” starts off on some relaxing boom bap shit courtesy of Blur frontman & Gorillaz mastermind Damon Albarn alongside Olu himself encouraging to never see yourself through someone else’s lenses & dancing with the devil feeling all up in their element whereas the psychedelically cavernous duet “Deep Blue” featuring Little Dragon shows a melodic side to the EARTHGANG singing about not wanting to implode on the ocean floor. “U Gotta” produced by The Neptunes is easily my favorite song on here even if it was made in 2021 telling their partners to get theirs & after the pop rap single “Love You More” featuring T-Pain, the sample-driven “Zone” talks being here 1 day & gone the next.

Cochise joins Dr. Dot & Johnny Venus on “Electric” dabbling with rage beats likening themselves to Pikachu or Zeus zapping muhfuckas leading into the inebriating club banger “In My Mind” talking about liquid sunshine trickling through their blinds & having magic in their fingertips putting a couple galaxies in a clip. After the “Robophobia” skit, the final song “Red Flag” finishes the EARTHGANG vs. the Algorithm saga reflecting on bad relationships over this psychedelic guitar for nearly 5 minutes.

Informed by their passion for Japanese culture, EARTHGANG vs. the Algorithm 3: Perfect Fantasy combines these 9 new songs with the last couple EPs paying homage to a lot of different eras. All 3 installments as a whole cohesively explores the effects of AI on society by questioning the ways advanced technologies are consuming our lives & dreaming of an alternate universe where humans could live more freely.

Score: 3.5/5

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SNAKEGANG – Self-Titled review

The SNAKEGANG are a supergroup consisting of London, England, United Kingdom electronic duo Snakehips as well as Atlanta, Georgia conscious hip hop duo the EARTHGANG. One of whom made their full-length debut the previous summer never worry & the other has quickly placed themselves behind fellow Spillage Village member J.I.D as the best Dreamville Records signees. Especially after their last couple LPs Mirrorland & Ghetto Gods. Ahead of the & final chapter in the EARTHGANG vs. the Algorithm trilogy of EPs, Olu & WowGr8 are coming off the latest installment Robophobia to unite the SNAKEGANG for an eponymous EP of their own as a quartet.

“if u down” starts the SNAKEGANG’s debut with a dance-inspired beat wanting to know if anyone out there listening is in fact down with them while “Glimmer.” continues to turn up the EDM club influences a bit talking about shining brightly. “Bounce” featuring DijahSB has a futuristically funky vibe to the instrumental loving the way that ass bounces whereas “The Remedy” featuring Rush Davisgroovily asks if you can handle them. “Been a Minute…” featuring Sinéad Harnett closes the EP with 1 last electronic/hip hop hybrid spending all their time & riches on themselves & the deluxe bonus track “Don’t Rush” mixes funk with hip house encouraging everyone to get lit.

This kinda reminds me of when Big Boi & Phantogram formed Big Grams to put out an eponymous EP of their own almost a decade ago, but fans of Snakehips & the EARTHGANG are gonna find themselves enjoying SNAKEGANG’s introductory EP more. Snakehips do a fine job of carrying their electronic sound over here allowing Olu & WowGr8 to lay down more fun subject matter on top of.

Score: 3.5/5

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EARTHGANG – “EARTHGANG vs. the Algorithm 2: Robophobia” review

Atlanta, Georgia duo the EARTHGANG consisting of Olu & WowGr8 back with their 7th EP. Starting out a little over a decade ago dropping 3 mixtapes along with 2 albums & an EP independently, this resulted in J. Colesigning them to his Interscope Recordsimprint Dreamville Records in 2017. This resulted in a trilogy of EPs leading up to their major label debut Mirrorland, which revealed themselves to be one of the best artists that the label has to offer. They went on to give their Spillage Village collective some shine by dropping their 4th album Spilligion on Dreamville the next year & Ghetto Gods further cemented them as the 2nd best signing on the roster behind J.I.D of course. EARTHGANG vs. the Algorithm: R.I.P. Human Art this past fall Dr. Dot & Johnny Venus severing ties with Interscope to solely stay with Dreamville, but are returning to give insight on EARTHGANG vs. the Algorithm 2: Robophobia about the technological advancements we’ve seen in recent years.

After the intro, “Blacklight” starts off by encouraging one to expose their flaws over a funky instrumental while “Put In Work” featuring Tommy Newport turns the funk up to 11 so both of them can get romantic. The futuristic R&B/pop rap crossover “Osmosis” has be my least favorite track on Robophobia asking if the love’s real in an cumbersome fashion & the warm “Perfect Fantasy” featuring WWE Hall of Famer Snoop Dogg closes the EP asking what’s inside these walls.

The last EP we got from Olu & WowGr8 was a good introduction to the story of the trilogy & the follow-up has to be my favorite chapter thus far. A song or 2 I can do without, but the EARTHGANG still embarks on a sonic dive as they explore new soundscapes & topics on imperfections connections & projections within humanity’s relationship with each other & artificial intelligence.

Score: 3.5/5

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EARTHGANG – “EARTHGANG vs. the Algorithm: R.I.P. Human Art” review

The EARTHGANG are a duo from Atlanta, Georgia consisting of Olu & WowGr8. Starting out a little over a decade ago dropping 3 mixtapes along with 2 albums & an EP independently, this resulted in J. Cole signing them to his Interscope Records imprint Dreamville Records in 2017. This resulted in a trilogy of EPs leading up to their major label debut Mirrorland, which revealed themselves to be one of the best artists that the label has to offer. They went on to give their Spillage Village collective some shine by dropping their 4th album Spilligion on Dreamville the next year & Ghetto Gods further cemented them as the 2nd best signing on the roster behind J.I.D of course. But in light of severing ties with Interscope & staying on Dreamville solely, Dr. Dot & Johnny Venus are celebrating by releasing their 5th EP.

“The Wake” intro sets things off where things musically have a bit of Frank Ocean influence to it calling to let all their homies free whereas “Die Today” asks if you’d come & kiss my cold or run up in my bank account if something were to happen to them over a pop rap/contemporary R&B crossover produced by Olu that’s actually better than half of what was on Puff Daddy a.k.a. P. Diddy or Diddy’s final album The Love Album: Off the Grid. “Flavors of Karma” is an organ/boom bap hybrid talking about karma coming in different flavors & not telling you what it feels like that is until the cloudy “Imagine” talks about having paradise at their fingertips. “Bobby Boucher” featuring Benji is a groovy southern pop rap closer reuniting with their vices.

These guys are truthfully my 2nd favorite act on Dreamville behind J.I.D other than Cole of course & here we have the first in a trilogy of EPs after no longer being distributed by Interscope makes me anticipate that they’re gonna have more creative freedom down the line now that they’re still with Dreamville Records & don’t have to worry about major label bullshit. The southern hip hop production also draws from cloud rap as well as boom bap & alternative/contemporary R&B with the EARTHGANG themselves feeling as if a weight’s off their chest delivery-wise.

Score: 3.5/5

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Dreamville Records – “D-Day” review

This is the 4th showcase compilation from Dreamville Records. Founded in 2007 by J. Cole & his manager Ibrahim Hamad, the label has proven itself to be a dominant force in the mainstream hip hop world for the past decade with the Revenge of the Dreamers trilogy even though the last installment was a bit of a disappointment. However after giving a 24 hour notice & with Dreamville Festival returning this weekend, the crew is having DJ Drama host D-Day.

“Stick” by J.I.D, J. Cole & Sheck Wes finds the trio over a triumphant araabMUZIK & Beat Butcha instrumental talking about being strapped whereas the “Ghetto Gods Freestyle” by the EARTHGANG & 2 Chainz goes into a more skeletal direction even though I do enjoy the battle bars. “Lifestyle” by Bas & A$AP Ferg has a lot more meat on the bone thanks to Cole behind the boards with both MCs talking about the lives they live currently leading into the jazzy “Starting 5” by Cozz, Lute & Omen talking about having shooters.

Meanwhile on “Coming Down”, we get a full blown Ari Lennox solo cut asking when her mans is coming over J. Cole & Wu10 sampling Mary J. Bilge’s rendition of ”I’m Goin’ Down” just before “Hair Salon” by Cozz, G Perico & Reason finds the trio over a psychedelic Chuck Inglish beat pondering why anyone would talk shit about them. “Freedom of Speech” by J. Cole goes into chipmunk soul territory with the help of Jake One talking about the energy switching whenever he pops up, but then “Blackberry Sap” is yet another Ari Lennox solo cut that I find to be inferior to “Coming Down”.

“Like Wine” by Lute comes through with a dusty boom bap banger full of braggadocio while “Jozi Flows” by Bas & the EARTHGANG works in a flute to talk about being misunderstood. “Barry from Simpson” by J.I.D & 2 Chainz mixes some horns with snares encouraging listeners to get shit done while “Everybody Ain’t Shit” by the EARTHGANG follows it up with a fun “fuck you” anthem.

The song “Ballin’ in Newport” by Omen over a piano instrumental from Ging & !llmind while the “Big Trouble” by Cozz comes through with an impressive freestyle accompanied by samples from Doug E. Fresh, David Porter & The Trammps. The whole thing ends with “Heaven’s EP”, where Cole freestyles over the “Pipe Down” instrumental & killed it harder than Drake did.

Even though I honestly didn’t know what to expect from this compilation, I actually happen to like it more than Revenge of the Dreamers III. The production’s much better, they relied less on features given how inconsistent they were almost 3 years back & the whole roster come through with improved performances too.

Score: 3.5/5

EARTHGANG – “Ghetto Gods” review

This is the 4th full-length album from Atlanta, Georgia duo EARTHGANG. Consisting of Olu & WowGr8, the pair started out a little over a decade ago dropping 3 mixtapes along with 2 albums & an EP independently before J. Cole signed them to his Interscope Records imprint Dreamville Records in 2017. This resulted in a trilogy of EPs leading up to their major label debut Mirrorland, which revealed themselves to be one of the best artists that the label has to offer. They went on to give their Spillage Village collective some shine by dropping their 4th album Spilligion on Dreamville the next year but now, they’re back in effect with the long-awaited Ghetto Gods.

After the “GLOW” intro, the title track opens the album with the duo talking about how anyone who thinks they can fuck with them are crazy on top of a symphonic trap instrumental whereas the Future-assisted “BILLI” is pretty much their own “Life is Good” down to the way it’s structured except this is way more exciting. [J.I.D] & J. Cole tag along for the funky “WATERBOYZ” talking about getting this money & fucking the fame leading into the “HEY BOO” interlude.

Meanwhile on “AMEN”, we have EARTHGANG coming through with a decent R&B flavored slow jam just before “ALL EYES ON ME” takes a cloudier route with the help of JetsonMade talking about wanting their homies free. “LIE TO ME” follows it up with some intoxicating synth melodies asking to be true but then after the “JEANS” interlude, the duo bring Baby Tate into the picture for “BLACK PEARLS” trying to brag about their women getting new bodies & falling flat on their faces.

After the “NEEZY’S WALK” interlude, the lead single “American Horror Story” returns to funk turf expressing their desire to be free while “POWER” comes off as an passionate pro-black anthem. After the “ZAZA” skit, the song “SMOKE SUM” goes into boom bap territory to talk about blazing some trees while the penultimate track “STRONG FRIENDS” is a fiery ode to being mentally healthy. “RUN TOO” ends the album with a spacey banger talking about what a life it’s been for them.

It took them a little over 2 years to finally give Ghetto Gods to us & at the end of the day, I like it a little bit more than Mirrorland. Few songs I could’ve done without, but the whole concept of finding God in you is very well thought out & their production game is continuing to progressively improve.

Score: 4/5