Kottonmouth Kings – “California Burning” review

The Kottonmouth Kings are a Placentia, California rip hop outfit now consisting of D-Loc, Chucky Chuck, Judge D & The Taxman. The original marquee act of Suburban Noize Records, their full-length debut Royal Highness distributed by Capitol Records was easily the rawest entry of their discography & the sophomore effort High Society embraced a more futuristic sound preceding Hidden Stash II: The Kream of the Krop & Rollin’ Stoned stylistically bringing KMK to their own. The last time we heard these guys as a group was when the late Saint Dog & Johnny Richter got with Loc for their 14th album Kingdom Come on 4/20 2018, excluding 25 to Life which is essentially D-Loc’s 3rd solo album. To celebrate 3 decades since their formation however, they’re signing to Virgin Music for a brand new extended play of material.

“Red Eye” produced by Mike Kumagai thunderously begins talking about people everywhere knowing the Kings got the best flow whereas the title track goes for more of a reggae vibe to discuss Americans struggling these past 16 months. “Break the Chains” shifts towards punkier territory talking about rebelling against the system & once “Move Along” encourages all to overcome the odds, “Raise Up” finishes off with a celebratory heater.

I recently got to see the Kottonmouth Kings live the day before Mother’s Day earlier this month since both Motown Rage & Kung Fu Vampire opened for them, but this new lineup’s inaugural collection of music was what 25 to Life should’ve been & makes me more optimistic of where things will go for them hereon out. It’ll be a delightful surprise for fans to hear Kumagai reuniting behind the boards & taking it back to the rip hop sound he helped perfect almost a quarter of a century earlier, mixing political rebellion & stoner raps they’ve become synonymous with.

Score: 4/5

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Drip Drops – Self-Titled review

Drip Drops is a West Coast duo from California consisting of Inland Empire up-&-comer S.Dub & the original P-Town Balla himself D-Loc of prior Kottonmouth Kings fame. Both parties initially landed their own spots on the Kingmaker Music compilation The Harvest, but are now joining forces together for a full-length debut under Loc’s independently owned P.T.B. Records imprint.

“Get Wet” is a fun opener to the album with Drip Drops talking about keeping the party popping whereas “Bic Bros” blends trap with hyphy encouraging all the weed smokers in the building to bounce & burn an ounce of that good kush with them. “Strains” takes a more spacious route in terms of sound to rattle off some of their favorite weed strains hence the title just before the flute-tinged “Shine It Up” talks about shining like the rims on a brand new truck.

Moving on with “Who Want the Smoke?”, we have Loc & S. Dub asking if anyone really wants beef with either one of them over some synth-based production leading into the bouncy “S.a.B. (Smoke a Blunt)” encouraging the listener to light up an L with them. “Hello Modelo” has more of a hyphy flare to it talking about alcohol, but then “Talking My Shit” acknowledges that they’re both doing just that on the regular over a bombastic beat. The track “We Kings” weaves some pianos referring to themselves as royalty & prior to the outro, “Drips from the Bong” ends the album with their own spin on the Cypress Hill jam “Hits from the Bong”.

Now if the glorified D-Loc solo album 25 to Life turned you off to P.T.B. Records, then you’re gonna wanna check out Drip Drops’ self-titled debut here because it’s the best product that we’ve gotten from Shaky Bonez’ indie label thus far. The mix is better & I feel like S.Dub gets a really good look throughout whether it be the verses that he wrote for Loc or the way that one another pings off each other on the mic.

Score: 3.5/5

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D-Loc – “25 to Life” review

D-Loc is a 43 year old rapper, producer & DJ from Placentia, California known for founding the rip hop outfit Kottonmouth Kings along with his childhood friends Saint Dog & Johnny Richter in 1996. Despite the revolving door of members within the last 25 years, the Kings would release a chockfull of material together. My personal favorites of which being Royal Highness, Hidden Stash, High Society, Hidden Stash II: The Kream of the Krop, Rollin’ Stoned, Fire It Up, Cloud 9, The Green Album & Mile High. However, it wouldn’t be until 2010 when Loc dropped his solo debut Made for Kings under Suburban Noize Records. This was followed up at the tail-end of 2018 with the sophomore effort Ripperside & now just 6-months after Saint Dog’s unexpected passing, we’re getting a new “Kottonmouth Kings” album that only D-Loc has been promoting for the past several months.

The first song following the intro “P.T.B. on the Creep” contains an instrumental kin to Dr. Dre & Scott Storch that I actually like, but it’s funny how D-Loc says anyone who thought the group is done is crazy when he’s actually continuing to bury the name himself by doing it solely. The next track “Orange County” is a short punk rock tribute to the SoCal region that raised him, but then Damn Dad himself is featured with Loc for the next 5 songs starting off with the rap metal-influenced “Fight Music”.

We go back into the punk shit on the fittingly titled “25th Anniversary” before taking a mellow detour on “Dance the Block”, which encourages the listener to be lifted brainlessly. The song “New Day” seems like they’re trying to recapture the spark of “Positive Vibes” except it has a more reggae influenced sound & then before Damn Dad hops back on the boards, he & D-Loc deliver the punky moshpit anthem “Kings of the Underground”.

The g-funk influenced “OG King” is pretty much Loc proclaiming himself as such, but then “Anarchy” is the definition of fake woke as the beat fuses together elements of trap & metal. After an interlude, the track “Away We Go” incorporates as a jangly guitar & some whistling with lyrics obviously being about smoking weed whereas “Time Flies” reminisces on his career over a hyphy instrumental.

“Paisley Grey” is a sincerely endearing tribute to D-Loc’s youngest daughter while the song “Home” goes into a more psychedelic trap sound as he details his family life. Damn Dad is featured 1-last time on “Web of Lies”, which is a garish punk/trap crossover about how KMK will never die. The track “Watch It Grow” is a stripped back anthem about weed being legalized nationwide & then “Legends Never Die” is a wavy tribute to Saint Dog. But before the outro, the final song “Don’t Forget Me” expresses his desire to be remembered over some acoustics & live drumming.

I don’t wanna sound like a hater at all because to this day, I still enjoy all of those past KMK albums I mentioned at the top of the review. However, this is nothing more than solo D-Loc album being marketed as a new Kottonmouth Kings group effort to make a quick buck. It’s like if the Fugees continued with just Wyclef as the only member. Obviously that won’t ever happen, but you get the idea. Even though I genuinely appreciate the fact that Damn Dad brought back the rip hop sound Kingdom Come was lacking, the performances & songwriting are both subpar for a good portion of the hour. I really hope Loc makes things right with Richter & the rest of the fans down the road.

Score: 1.5/5