Malibu Ken – Self-titled review

Malibu Ken is a new duo consisting of indietronica producer Tobacco out of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania & legendary New York wordsmith Aesop Rock. They announced their formation late last year & after a few singles, they’re delivering their full-length debut with the help off Rhymesayers Entertainment.

The album kicks off with “Corn Maze”, where Rock talks about privacy over an 8-bit sounding instrumental. The song “Tuesday” describes an average titular day over a druggy beat while the track “Save Our Ship” gets cryptic over some synths & guitars. The song “Sword Box” spits battle bars over some haunting synths while the track “Dog Years” looks back at his youth over another 8-bit sounding beat.

The song “Acid King” vividly recalls the story of his friend Gary being murdered over a minimal synth instrumental while the track “Suicide Big Gulp” seems to be discussing depression over a synth-funk beat. The song “1+1=13” talks about luck over a spacious beat while the track “Churro” vividly talks about an eagle killing a cat over over a trippy beat. The album then finishes off with “Purple Moss”, where Aes goes back to a more introspective approach over a somber beat.

Overall, this is a pretty solid album. It’s too short only running at 34 minutes, but Aesop Rock’s lyricism is more intelligent than ever & Tobacco’s synthesizer heavy production suits his stories very well.

Score: 4/5

Atmosphere – “Mi Vida Local”

Atmosphere is an renown independent hip hop duo from Minneapolis, Minnesota consisting of producer Ant & MC Slug. They’ve released a handful of classics through their label Rhymesayers Entertainment including Lucy Ford, You Can’t Imagine How Much Fun We’re Having, Sad Clown Bad Dub 9 & my personal favorite: God Loves Ugly. Last time we heard from them was with with Fishing Blues in summer of 2016 but now, they’re finally returning with their 9th full-length album.

Things start off with “Jerome”, where Slug introspectively talks about being underground & depression over an organ & a guitar. The next track “Stopwatch” talks about is an empowering rap rock anthem while the song “Virgo” talks about the current political over an acoustic instrumental. The track “Delicate” goes in the mind of a young Atmosphere fan over a smooth instrumental while the song “Drown” with Cashinova, deM atlaS & The Lioness talks about depression once again a somber boom bap beat.

The track “Anymore” talks about deceiving people over a gloomy guitar while the song “Earring” with Musab sees the 2 talking about cheating women over an alluring soul sample. The track “Trim” is a laidback love tune with synth heavy instrumental while the song “Specificity” does have an angry tone to it, I wish it was a little longer. The track “Mijo” vividly describes his love for his children over a spacey instrumental while “Randy Mosh” is an AMAZING Dynospectrum reunion. The album then finishes with “Graffiti”, which is a positivity anthem with an empowering instrumental.

Honestly, this might be Atmosphere’s best album of the decade & one of their best albums period. Primarily because both lyrically & sonically, Slug & Ant pretty much show us how much they’ve matured over the years.

Score: 4/5

Evidence – “Weather or Not” review

A little over 4 years since his magnum opus Cats & Dogs, Dilated Peoples member Evidence finally delivering his 3rd full-length solo album & his 2nd with Rhymesayers Entertainment. The album starts off with “The Factory”, where he tells you that you’re rocking with the west over an eerie boom bap beat. The next song “Throw It All Away” gets inspirational over a somber beat from The Alchemist while the track “Powder Cocaine” sees him & Slug talking about internal conflict over a mellow vocal sample. The song “Jim Dean” vents about a slew of things to the listener over a boom bap beat from Nottz while the title track brags about his rapping prowess over a DJ Babu instrumental with some strings & explosive drums.

After the “Moving Too Fast” interlude, we then go into the next track “Runners”. Here, Ev & Defari go back & forth in battle rap mode over an explosive beat with a nice soul sample. The song “Bad Publicity” is another humble brag with some semi-dinky keys & hard hitting drums while the track “Rain Drops” gets insightful over a meditative instrumental. The song “Sell Me This Pen” sees the Step Brothers & Mach-Hommy talking about their talents over an eerie beat while the track “Love’s a Funny Thing” is Ev linking up with Rapsody & Styles P to talk about love over a boom bap beat with twinkling piano keys .

The song “10,000 Hours” touches down on his come up in the game over a gritty beat from none other than DJ Premier while the track “What I Need” gets reflective yet ambitious along with wanting to be remembered over a laidback beat. The song “To Make a Long Story Longer” continues talking his about his come-up over an explosive boom bap beat & the Jonwayne verse was just as much of an intriguing story. The penultimate track “Wonderful World” sees Ev & Rakaa getting on the motivational tip over an organ-laced boom bap beat & then the closer “By My Side Too” is an endearing soulful ode to his son & his breast cancer surviving wife.

So with the first month of 2018 drawing to close, Evidence does it justice by providing a serious contender for Best Album of the Year. It stays just as consistent as the predecessor throughout it’s 56 minute runtime, the production is organic of course & Evidence staying as equally focused along with pouring his heart out on just about every single track

Score: 4/5

Brother Ali – “All the Beauty in This Whole Life” review

When Brother Ali first told me back in November that his 6th full-length album was coming in 2017, I was pretty excited given that it would be his first album since Mourning in America & Dreaming in Color just 5 years ago. However when he later said it would be entirely produced by Ant of Atmosphere (who hasn’t produced an album for Ali since Us in 2009), I was even more excited. The album opens up with “Pen to Paper”, where Ali’s talking about going from started writing at 8 & meeting KRS-One at 13 to being profiled by the US government over some ambitious keys & horns. The next song “Own Light (What Hearts Are For)” is about using his heart for love & while the beat does start off kinda spacey, the electric guitar that starts to pop in after the first 20 seconds was a nice touch. The track “Special Effects” talks about Ali wanting to communicate without technology over a jazzy beat & the deM atlaS hook on here is just beautiful. The song “Can’t Take That Away” is a dedication to that special someone in Ali’s life & the beauty of it is enhanced by the harp & keys throughout. The next track “Dear Black Son” is basically Ali sending a message to his son Faheem about all the current racism in America today over a jazzy piano. The song “We Got This” with Sa-Roc talking positivity & the chemistry between the 2 MCs is actually greater than I actually though it would be. The song “Uncle Usi Taught Me” recalls performing “Uncle Sam Goddamn” in Iran over a funky beat & the way he describes it is so vivid & sincere. The track “Pray for Me” talks about his albinism over a piano as well as a pumping bassline. The song “It Ain’t Easy” talking his desire of real love over a churchy instrumental. The track “Never Learn” has some nice brass throughout & I also love the eerie background vocals behind the beat. Also, the hook is beautiful & his flow is so on point. The song “Tremble” talks about how he’s “a human, not a brand” over an electric guitar & he sounds so sincere about it too. The track “Before They Called You White” talks about the Europeans’ land being seized & I like how they incorporated the vocal sample at the end. The song “The Bitten Apple” talks about self-hate over a somber beat & the gloomy hook from Idris Phillips fits in perfectly with the whole tone. The penultimate track “Out of Here”, where Ali is talking about the suicide of both his dad & grandfather & the instrumental fits in like a glove. Especially with the piano during the first verse. The album then closes out with the title track, where Ali is talking about God over a relaxing beat. To me, this is a near perfect return for Brother Ali. The instrumentals are beautiful, the content is on point & the passion is clear as day
Score: 4.5/5