King Iso – “ghetto psycho” review

Omaha, Nebraska emcee/producer King Iso is back after 23 months for his 7th LP. Coming up as a protege of San Diego chopper Twisted Insane, he would only drop first 2 albums & The Insanity Plea & Autophobia under Brainsick Muzik. Shortly after, they had an unfortunate falling out & it prompted Iso to put out his next full-length DeMenTia independently in 2018. However, I was thrilled to see him sign with Strange Music the following spring & his debut on the Kansas City powerhouse World War Me has quickly become one of the label’s best albums ever. Get Well Soon as well as 8 P.M. Med Call & iLLdren all went on to be equally well received, taking us on a trip through the mind of a ghetto psycho.

“Law 6126” starts with a dedication to the ghettos worldwide talking about having to prove to the state of Nebraska that Iso isn’t mentally insane over a self-produced cloudy trap instrumental whereas the deranged “Element” discusses the environment he grew up around. “Butcher Knife” featuring Snake Lucci blends trap & rock talking about being in the middle of the map with pistols on their laps while “Hell’s Architect” featuring Matt Phoenix finds the 2 talking about keeping life in those who need them.

Starlito appears for “Giving Down” hoping to succeed for the sake of their seeds & after the “Top of the Morning” skit, “Check” gives off a ghostly trap vibe staring in the face of death to say “aye that’s twin”. “Beat Box” throws it back to the g-funk era a bit talking about those envious of his name ringin’ the way it’s been while the hyphy-tinged “Crash Out” featuring E-40 after the “Gas Station” skit finds the 2 speaking of uncontrollable anger.

“S.D.G.A.F. (Still Don’t Give a Fuck)” featuring Kuniva aggressively unites the pair so they can talk about giving 0 while “Trip” heads for an eerie trap direction instrumentally explaining the ways of craziness life has to offer. After the “Checking In” skit, “Bloody” radiates a doomsday atmosphere that I find to be suiting going through shit he wants to forget while the smoky “High” talks about smoking the finest blunts.

JB’s appearance on “Bad” doesn’t do a whole lot for me & nor does the topic of his woman’s attractiveness while “Concrete Boxspring” featuring Don Trip only slightly improves despite the theme of keeping their souls in tact. After the “On the Way” skit, “Travis O’Guin” gives his flowers to the Strange Music CEO himself & the founder of it’s subsidiary It Goes Up Entertainment while “Talk to Me” explains to his woman that he’s going ghost to count paper.

“Normal” starts ghetto psycho’s final act by assuring that it’s usual for all of us to have our unusual quirks while the title track embodies the core theme of the album over a booming trap instrumental with some keys. “Against the World” takes a moment to deliver a heartfelt lyrical tribute to his whole entire family & “W.O.O.T.S. (Writ Out Of The Script)” featuring Taebo tha Truth ends with both of them advising not to be omitted from the game plan.

Pushing himself out of the darkness & ignites his own light, ghetto psycho simultaneously embraces King Iso creating his own sound handling the production much like the rest of his discography except he’s incorporating more live instrumentation & adding his own unique sauce to any different style of beat you’d want from him. Conceptually, what he considers to be the most important work of his career engages in lyrical homicide on a massive scale whilst his mask of sanity is slipping.

Score: 4.5/5

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Matt Phoenix – “Still Dreaming” review

Kansas City, Missouri rapper, singer/songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, producer, DJ & audio engineer Matt Phoenix releasing his full-length solo debut. Formerly a frontman for Anti-Crew & Sage N Sour, he has since become an in-house producer for Strange Music in recent years & later signed to King Iso’s newly Project Be Well Inc. distributed by the Strange subsidiary It Goes Up Entertainment as a recording artist. Interestingly enough, Matt wants to make it clear he’s Still Dreaming only 24 hours from It Goes Up finally making up for the new Saigon album Paint the World Black produced by Buckwild getting continuously delayed.

After the “Awakening” intro, the self-produced title track fuses industrial hip hop with pop rap talking about him trying to keep a smile on his face when it’s harder than it seems whereas “Meltdown” switches things up with an explosive trap metal song & the screamed vocals can’t help but remind me of the late LINKIN PARK frontman Chester Bennington. “Let Me Be” featuring King Iso finds the 2 looking to do it their own way over a piano instrumental while “Primetime” featuring Joey Cool & Ubiquitous talks about being on their grind dabbling with trap.

“Sacrifice” wraps up the first leg of Still Dreaming giving off more pop rap energy talking about rather facing destiny than live off of someone else’s time leading into “Sober” featuring King Iso reunites for a poppy trap metal crossover hoping that they’ll kick the habit of drinking alcohol some day. “Unconditional” raps about criticisms of him writing for the Hell of it when he’s clearing his vision while “Lost” sings over some crescendoing guitar work that he feels stray.

The most surprising feature on Still Dreaming is none other than the Snake & Bat original and Ear House Inc. co-founder Krizz Kaliko during the poppy “I’m Not a Robot” exploring the struggle of feeling inadequate in a relationship filled with all kind of technological metaphors while “Identity” finishes Matt’s debut album with a synthpop button singing about him feeling like he’s a completely different person than he once was & that he’s ready to open his eyes.

From producing for the likes of former Strange Music acts like the previously mentioned Krizz Kaliko or the CES Cru to some or their current signees like Joey Cool or Jehry Robinson, it’s been shaping up to be a huge month for the Kansas City indie major & Still Dreaming emphasizes Matt Phoenix’s artistry to newer heights whether be his vocals fluctuating between rapping, singing & screaming or the eclectic production.

Score: 4/5

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