Tag: Sham Blak

Sham Blak – “Man of My Word” review

This is a brand new extended play & the 4th overall from San Diego, California emcee Sham Blak. Releasing his full-length studio debut Money Well Spent all the way back in 2013 when I was teenager, he would follow it up with his debut EP ShamRock along with the D Day Project & The Evolution of Sham Blak: As Lucc Would Have It EPs respectively. He recently put the sophomore effort Gratuity as well as Something Out of Nothing & ShamRock 2, coming off last summer’s Red October to be a Man of My Word.

“Power & Capability” featuring K4NO finds the pair linking up to talk about no one being realer than them whereas “Deebo’s” shifts towards a boom bap vibe instrumentally so Sham can lyrically get in his conscious bag. “Principle, Loyalty, Legacy” featuring Destruct joins forces so they can discuss keeping a cyclops vision when carrying tradition & after “Ain’t Nothing Like San Diego” props up his hometown, “Out the Window” featuring Mischif talks about doing this for the kinfolk.

Lorde Sims appears during “Tap In”, kicking off the 2nd half shittin’ on everyone & everything regardless of who it is while “Intentions” featuring Navy Jonez LKR rawly confronts someone regarding their precise objectives. “Round the City” featuring Mischif gets to the cake together without anything derailing their path & after “Shadowboxing” featuring Mr. Brady aggressively treads the battle rap waters topically, the outro “Farewell” sends off Man of My Word talking about going to bed when the sun does.

Documenting the mindset required to stay authentic & building something meaningful on his own terms, Sham Blak blends gritty introspective lyricism with hard hitting production & collaborative energy for an EP built upon principle, loyalty & legacy. Man of My Word calls for the world to stand behind what he believes exploring ambition, self belief to loyalty, relationships, community, internal battles & ultimately letting go & moving forward.

Score: 3.5/5

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Sham Blak – “Red October” review

San Diego, California emcee Sham Blak teaming with PHD Beats for his 5th studio LP. Coming up a decade ago off his debut Money Well Spent, he returned 7 years later for the ShamRock & D Day Project EPs followed by the sophomore effort Gratuity & Something Out of Nothing. We recently got a sequel to ShamRock several months ago & he’s looking to finish the first half of 2025 by enlisting a bunch of collaborators for Red October.

“Window” featuring Von Dreaam was a menacing boom bap intro putting your trust in them on their way to get the bag whereas “War Scriptures” featuring B-Rell keeps it in the basement to talk about being built for this. “Spooky Dilemma” featuring Chop the Father & Rhamis Ali finds the trio linking up so they can all go into their Jason Voorhees shit lyrically while “Silent Waters” featuring 25th Enigma finds the 2 likening themselves to hunters.

Knollege & Tay da Crown join Blak on the dusty “Encrypted” making the whole crowd stand back with their hardcore flows just before “Iron Curtains” featuring NVY Jonez LKR brings the pair together to talk about taking the high road because they may not live to see another day. “Never Shall We Die” looks back on the way he used to hustle back then becoming played out with time passing on, but then Paper Pat & Von Dreaam appear for “Periscope Visions” talking about not being content with moving backwards.

“The Captain’s Gambit” featuring Baegod goes for a jazzier direction instrumentally figuring out how you go from being up 1 minute & down the next while “Escape Route” featuring Benny Watts grittily talks about needing to get away from all the negativity. “Torpedo Blow” featuring RMthePoet speaks of learning to use their actions as tools because the virtue of patience while “Submarine” by Banish Habitual soulfully dismantles their competition.

Sick Rick & Smalls Uno not to be confused with Smallz One lay the final Red October guest appearances down during “Spooky Sonar” layin’ out those daring to fuck with them using firearms & “Red Dawn” finishes the LP with a piano/boom bap fusion talking about breaking away from the shackles along with the block being hot not taking anything away from what he’s trying to do. 

Taking a different approach compared to what Sham Blak has usually done, Red October sets out to make the most conceptual body of work in his entire catalog & eventually succeeds cementing the epitomization . The boom bap production has some creative sample choices top to bottom & the guests all contribute to the story Sham’s telling of struggle, triumph & self‑discovery.

Score: 4/5

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