Ramson Badbonez – “Crystal Skull” review

Brand new studio LP & the 15th overall from Highbury, North London, England, United Kingdom emcee Ramson Badbonez. An underwing of the Task Force, he would eventually sign to Boot Records until making his High Focus Records debut in 2013 with A Year in the Life of Oscar the Slouch. Hypnodic, Jason Bonez, Mic Day the 13th, Death Mask, Fusion & the Leaf Dog-produced White Rabbit would all come out under the Hove, East Sussex imprint & has linked up with Illinformed for Crystal Skull.

After the “Psychic Channel” intro, the 2nd single “1 to 10” kicks things off with this soulful boom bap intro flexing the strength of his pen whereas the lead single “Animos City” talks about most having the inability of prevailing in this circular maze. “Lost Relic” takes the symphonic boom bap route instrumentally speaking of being heavenly suspenseful in mood until the 3rd single “Afterglow” talks about our light trying to be controlled whether it’s bright or not.

Farma G appears for the smooth yet dusty “True Colours” so they can discuss women revealing their real personalities to them after hiding it for some time just before the 4th & final single “Crime or Rhyme” hooks up a flute to talk about being intertwined by those 2 things since 1999 when he used to roll with the Task Force back in the day. “Code” gets the 2nd half narcissists displaying where their alliance truly lies while “Blue” passionately talks about his family life.

“Terrors” featuring Kakarot finds the pair discussing the fight or flight agenda while “Shots Fired” eerily gets in his battle rap bag lyrically. Blessing” featuring Leaf Dog hops over a soulful boom bap beat looking to hand out gratitude when one needs it & after “Guitar Case” cinematically shows off his storytelling abilities, “Spirit Science” featuring Mr. Rozzi wraps up Crystal Skull talking about the walls of time being quieter than inner silence.

It wasn’t too surprising to hear Ramson Badbonez reached out to Illinformed weeks after White Rabbit came out last spring to bring this sequel to life & sure enough, Crystal Skull will satisfy fans who resonated with it’s predecessor 19 months earlier ranking amongst the Silver Surfa’s finest material. He’s defiantly standing tall in spite of the world around him falling apart & Illinformed’s production feels unparalleled to Leaf’s, opening the door for the possibility of both Leigh Brothers getting behind the boards for the saga’s next chapter.

Score: 4/5

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Ramson Badbonez – “White Rabbit” review

Highbury, North London, England, United Kingdom emcee Ramson Badbonez teaming up with Real Life Drama Records co-founder Leaf Dog to fully produce his 14th studio LP. An underwing of the Task Force, he would eventually sign to High Focus Records in 2013 making his debut for the label with A Year in the Life of Oscar the Slouch that same winter. Hypnodic, Jason Bonez, Mic Day the 13th, Death Mask & Fusion would all come out under the Hove, East Sussex imprint with White Rabbit now becoming the 7th raising my expectations with Leaf’s heavy involvement.

After the “Nothing Stops Him” intro, the first song “Hijack” is this sample-driven boom bap opener letting y’all know what he’s all about whereas “The Great” maintains a boom bap edge working in these horns boasting his lyrical technicality. “More 4 Less” featuring Smellington Piff instrumentally kinda reminds me of Mobb Deep talking about them being lyrically gifted until he looks back on getting called upon to take the “Dirt Road” to get where he is currently sampling a piano.

“Rabbit Hole” featuring mysdiggi finds the pair tryna open everyone’s heads in the midst of them getting deeply involved musically just before “Stolen Scrolls” gets back on the orchestral boom bap tip calling himself a professional dread expressionist with a vengeance list. “Try Not to Judge” featuring Verbz soulfully discusses their judgmental free tendencies, but then “Upside Down” featuring Cymarshall Law talks about the current state of the world.

As for “Loop Holes”, we have Badbonez over another piano-boom bap instrumental kicking hardcore lyricism for a few minutes while “Soul Searching” featuring Phoenix da Icefire talking about them being the butterfly effect that emerged from the chrysalis. “Can’t Give Up” soulfully gets on the motivational side lyrically & ahead of closing out with a “Wondaland” sequel, “Strike” featuring The 4 Owls gives a taste of what’s to come from the quartet’s upcoming 4th album.

Marrying his street poetry with the macabre at every turn, White Rabbit is a potent reminder of Badbonez at his lucid best & searches out the truth in the music he makes. Leaf Dog’s production provides a pitch-perfect soundtrack for Badbonez to showcase his full arsenal of multi-syllable flows, punchlines & infectious hooks as he adventures further down the rabbit hole.

Score: 4/5

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Ramson Badbonez – “Fusion” review

This is the 13th studio LP from Highbury, North London, England, United Kingdom emcee Ramson Badbonez. An underwing of the Task Force, he would eventually sign to High Focus Records in 2013 making his debut for the label with A Year in the Life of Oscar the Slouch that same winter. Hypnodic, Jason Bonez, Mic Day the 13th & Death Mask would all come out under the Hove, East Sussex imprint to warm reception. However with Fusion now becoming the 6th, he’s looking to go in a different direction stylistically.

“Alpha” produced by Jehst begins with a hypnotic ode to one of my all-time favorite Nas tracks “The World is Yours” whereas “Lift Off” goes for more of a hip house vibe courtesy of Ghosttown making the place “Jump” like Kris Kross did. We get a horn sample mixed with drums & bass to give the fans “What Ya Need” prior to the synth-heavy “Rap Bio”solemnly swearing that nothing can compare to his output through a biography on his career.

As for “Blame”, we have Ramson over a hypnotic beat talking about his country’s education system failing the youth hence why he can’t blame them leading into “Hoodflix” featuring Datkid & Truemendous on the remix finds the trio looking back at their upbringings over a Telemachus instrumental. The experimental trap-tinged title track gets in his storytelling bag describing the dark streets of London while “Beat the Odds” takes a few minutes to talk about achieving what many deemed impossible.

“Just Say…” kicks off the 4th quarter of Fusiontalking about the real calling the frauds on their bluff, wanting nothing more than them to back off & cut their bullshit while “Roll On” dabbles with grime suggesting not everyone was made to be a rapper when that couldn’t be any more factual. “Could’ve Been You” featuring Confucius MC advises to never hold a grudge because time flies rather quickly until “Omega” wraps things up with a bombastic 5 & a half minute outro letting those who fucked up around him know what they’ve done.

Some of the mixed reception I was seeing towards Fusion going into it had a me a little worried that it could be Ramson Badbonez’ worst album but now that I’ve finally gotten a chanced to sit down & break it down, I wouldn’t say it that’s bad personally. The production’s more experimentally genre blurring than what we’re normally used to hearing from him dissecting the many highs & lows that took him from a life running the roads to documenting his own experiences.

Score: 4/5

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Ramson Badbonez – “Jason Bonez” review

Here is the 3rd extended play from Highbury, London, England, United Kingdom emcee Ramson Badbonez from the Task Force. He would eventually sign to the Hove, East Sussex imprint High Focus Records in 2013 & made his debut for the label with the highly received A Year in the Life of Oscar the Slouch that same winter. Coming off the DJ Fingerfood-produced Hypnodic however, he’s introducing us to a character who takes the name of Jason Bonez almost a whole entire year since the latter & nearly a week after David Starr became the new RPW British Cruiserweight Champion.

“Mr. Voorhees” opens with this sinister boom bap instrumental produced by DJ Jazz T & Dr. Zygote comparing himself to the main antagonist of the Friday the 13th franchise whereas “Lock Your Doors” hooks up some foreboding horns mixed with kicks & snares advising everyone to bolt the entrances of their homes. “Black Heart” stylistically keeps it rugged recalling his mother telling him what made him lonely leading into “The Witch is Pregnant” spitting a freestyle over an organ-inflicted beat.

To get the 2nd half of Jason Bonez going, “Killing Fields” heinously talks about leaving doubters bleeding for all of eternity while “Machete Madness” continues to take us inside the shoes of a serial killer donning a hockey mask & cutting up bodies. “Rain, Drains” maintains a spooky boom bap vibe to the beat talking about doing all the dirty work by himself but after the synth-driven “Get My Head Fixed” suggests to do either that or find the nearest exit, “Bloodsplat” finishes with a jazzy boom bap outro getting bloodthirsty.

Maintaining the skillful standards that A Year in the Life of Oscar the Slouch for example has set, Ramson Badbonez follows Hypnodic up with the most horrorcore-themed project of his entire career without making it sound gimmicky like some artists in that particular subgenre of hardcore hip hop. The production’s more boom bap-oriented than Hypnodic’s was & I love that he holds down the verses all by himself instead of getting a bunch of guests, conceptually likening himself to one of the most iconic franchises in all of horror cinema.

Score: 3.5/5