Bizarre – “He Got a Gun 4” review

Detroit emcee Bizarre returning for his 8th solo LP & the 4th installment of the He Got a Gun series in time for the Halloween season. Emerging as an original member of the now defunct D12 led by the late Proof, he was also among the first in the crew to put out solo efforts with his 1998 debut EP Attack of the Weirdosbeing a hometown classic in my eyes. Fast forward 7 years later, Biz followed it up with a worthy full-length debut Hannicap Circus & has continued to put out music on his own since, with the last time we heard him being his 11th mixtape 18159 Stout during the first quarter or the year. The Foul Mouth-produced He Got a Gun as well as it’s it’s sequel & the predecessor Art Peace revitalized himself for all the doubters, so them coming off “Antichrist” on Eminem’s latest album THE DƎATH OF SLIM SHADY (COUP DE GRÂCE) with He Got a Gun 4 was definitely the best move.

“Jump Out There” starts by aggressively boasting the fact he’s more hood than everyone else going on a Rampage similarly to Busta Rhymes’ cousin whereas “Grew Up a Savage” works in some kicks, snares & a spacious backdrop talking about growing up in the wilder side of the city. “Rufus” gives off a morbid atmosphere instrumentally detailing his lifestyle while “B.M.T.” hooks up a drumless soul sample to smoke weed & chill out after a stressful day.

Moving on with “1 Way”, we have Foul taking it back towards a boom bap direction advising to watch how you speak to him since he’s a boss leading into “Dear Diary” heads for a personal approach lyrically getting all the shit that he’s been going through since we last heard from him earlier this summer off his chest. “Mother’s House” featuring Lokye has this delicately raw vibe to the beat allowing both of them to daydream, but then “King of Detroit” featuring J-Nutty finds the pair reppin’ their city.

“Rat Bitch” featuring Big Jiggs gets the other half of the LP rollin’ breaking down Bizarre’s preference in women & Jiggs solidly portraying the titular role for her verse while “Let’s Go” marks a return of the Peter S. Bizarre alter ego over these infernal piano chords. “Jeeter” is a whole stoner’s anthem with some playful sampling throughout 130 seconds while “Grim Reaper” featuring Speak of the Devil dustily tells us who the drug dealer & crypt-keeper are in debt to.

Bub Rock & Kain Cole both join Bizarre on “God Speed” luxuriously giving y’all what you need instead of what y’all want reassuring slow motion better than no motion while “Flexin’ on Your Hoes” featuring Bruiser Wolf nears the end of the LP slickly getting in their pimp bags. The outro featuring Marv Won & Max Hilli concludes the latest entry of the He Got a Gun saga in the form of this lethal rap rock song looking to body those who wanna battle them.

This & all 3 of it’s predecessors stylistically are very much reminiscent to the final minute of “Antichrist” so if you loved it when shit got scary during Bizarre’s verse on that track, you’re probably gonna enjoy the entire tetralogy that revitalized the Idiotic Kidd’s passion for the game since all 4 installments maintain the classic level Attack of the WeirdosHannicap Circus already achieved. 2 & a half years later, Foul Mouth’s boom bap production & Bizzy’s hardcore lyricism excellently compliment each other as they continue to elevate their chemistry.

Score: 4.5/5

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Bizarre – “He Got a Gun 3: Art Peace” review

This is the 7th full-length solo LP from Detroit emcee Bizarre. Emerging as an original member of the now defunct D12 led by the late Proof, he was also among the first in the crew to put out solo efforts with his 1998 debut EP Attack of the Weirdos being a hometown classic in my eyes. Fast forward 7 years later, Biz followed it up with a worthy full-length debut Hannicap Circus & has continued to put out music on his own since, with the last time we heard him being his 11th mixtape 18159 Stout during the first quarter or the year. The Foul Mouth-produced He Got a Gun & its sequel revitalized himself for all the doubters, so the 3rd & final installment had me anticipating it as much.

The intro featuring Max Hilli starts the trilogy chapter of the series that the idiotic kid found his passion again by coming live from the Motor City over a grimy boom bap instrumental whereas “aRT pEACE” goes drumless to get on his grown man shit for 4 minutes. “Insane Asylum” works the kicks & snares back in hitting 3 shots with 3 glocks all for G-Unit Reeboks & “Run, Duck” featuring Lokye after the “Gas Station” interlude aggressively gets in their hardcore bag lyrically.

“Ford Plant” featuring La the Darkman eerily breaks down the exact spot where you’ll catch both of them slangin’ prior to “Party in Detroit” vibrantly talks about the hoes being outside, the players playin’ & the hustlers hustlin’ at the function. “Sexyy Red” hooks up a vocal sample with more kicks & snares wanting his bitch as nasty as the titular St. Louis star just before “Who Gotta” angrily asks if anyone out there got a problem with him.

We get some atmospheric vibes throughout “Bizarre Buds” that suit the track well since he’s conceptually providing listeners with an anthem dedicated to those who like smokin’ good weed leading into the uncanny “Sheefy Mcfly” featuring Dango Forlaine bringing the pair together talking about doing whatever the fuck they want. “Dressing Room” ruggedly flexes he appeared on No Jumper to plug Lena while “Rainy Dayz” featuring J-Classic & Keen Streetz puts the hard times behind them.

“Pack the Roach” feat. Isaac Castor, Jalen Frazier & Max Hilli finds the quartet over more boom bap production nearing the conclusion of He Got a Gun 3: Art Peace to discuss being the killers that they are & “Summertime” featuring Kain Cole concludes the LP by hooking up somewhat of a psychedelic beat to ring in the summer since the 2nd half of 2024 already began earlier on in the week.

Peter S. already started off the year well by preluding this album with the Ratt Poison EP & the latest entry of the He Got a Gun trilogy reinforces everything that made both installments the best material of his career on top of further proving that Foul Mouth is a great match for him. The latter’s production incorporates elements of boom bap, drumless, jazz rap & psychedelia allowing Bizarre to passionately destroy his competition.

Score: 4.5/5

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Bizarre – “Ratt Poison” review

Detroit emcee Bizarre originally the now defunct D12 led by the late Proof surprise-releasing his 3rd EP a day in advance. Amongst the first in the crew to put out a solo effort with his 1998 debut EP Attack of the Weirdos which is a hometown classic to me, the idiotic kid followed it up 7 years later with a worthy full-length debut Hannicap Circus & has continued to put out music on his own since. However, his last couple albums He Got a Gun along with it’s sequel produced by Foul Mouth have become his most acclaimed solo material since Attack of the Weirdos & Hannicap Circus. So when Biz started teasing Ratt Poison, I didn’t expect anything to be below the mark those previous LPs had set.

“Count on Me” is a soulful boom bap opener with some jazzy undertones talking about hitting your block with 100 of his homies with dynamite powerful enough to kill J.J. Walker himself whereas “Uncle” takes a more rugged approach instrumentally talking about being homicidal & looking to air out his enemies. “Heebee Jeebeez” works in some ominous piano chords as well as more kicks & snares asking if you can feel the griminess prior to “Kodak” giving off straight up horror movie vibes with the beat talking about being a drug addict.

To officially start the encore of Ratt Poison, “Potty Mouth” gets on his disgusting shit over a dusty ass instrumental while the unhinged “G.E.D.” admits to being stupid & that he chose thuggin’ over a degree. Finally, the title track featuring Young Zee of the Outsidaz collective whom both Bizarre AND Eminem were once members of from the late 90’s to early 2000s finds the 2 over 1 last boom bap beat with these chilling piano chords woven in spitting lethal hardcore bars for a couple minutes.

Pill God in the summer of 2018 was the last time to my knowledge than I can recall Peter S. putting out an EP & I feel like that was to coincide with the 20 year anniversary of Attack of the Weirdos, which Pill God just didn’t hold a candle to in terms of quality. Ratt Poison on the other hand continues the trajectory that He Got a Gun & He Got a Gun 2 headed towards. Foul’s production is consistently raw & continues to prove as a great match for Bizarre’s improved lyricism.

Score: 4/5

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