Coi Leray – “What Happened to Forever?” review

Here we have the 6th EP from New Jersey rapper & singer Coi Leray. Growing up as the younger brother of Sosshouse Records signee Chavo & the daughter of Benzino, she began to carve a path of her own with her debut mixtape Everythingcoz along with her first 2 EPs Everythingcoz 2 & Now or Never even though they were mediocre to me personally. She then signed to Uptown Records after being relaunched by Republic Records & put out her major label debut Trendsetter not too long after which had a few of her strongest tracks yet, but the bad mostly outweighed the good & the same applied to Coi considering “Self Love” off the Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse soundtrack could be my favorite song of hers yet. Lemon Cars produced by Mike WiLL Made-It under Island Records was her most acclaimed body of work yet & his moving over to Epic Records wanting to know What Happened to Forever?.

“Keep It” was a decent pop rap intro airing out Trippie Redd for cheating on her not too long after her pregnancy with his child was announced whereas “Leave You Alone” tells Trippie not to lie to her because it cuts too deep. “I Hate Your Friends” is my favorite track here from the CashMoneyAP instrumental to the lyrics expressing the genuine hatred she holds against her baby daddy’s homies while “U Too” professes to being fucked up & “Lick Back” concludes the EP talking about getting into her bag again.

Lemon Cars made me more optimistic regarding Coi’s ability to craft a consistent body of work & for her Epic debut, she whips up a mediocre EP built around the sounds of both pop rap & alternative R&B channeling the frustrating betrayal that she felt after Trippie Redd was stupid enough to get her pregnant a little over a month prior. The concepts are there & so is the anger, my biggest issue is the production falling flat significantly harder than her last one did.

Score: 2.5/5

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Central C – “Can’t Rush Greatness” review

Ladbroke Grove, London, England, United Kingdom rapper & singer/songwriter Central C putting out his sophomore effort & major label debut as the we approach the end of the first month in the new year. After putting out a total of 4 EPs & a couple mixtapes in addition to his Split Decision collab EP he & Dave did, the 2023 XXL Freshman Class member has seen fit to sign with Columbia Records for him to make his proper introduction reminding that you Can’t Rush Greatness.

“No Introduction” is this UK drill intro talking about women tryna pretend as if they don’t know who he is already whereas “5 Star” reflects upon his come-up in the rap game. “Gata” featuring Young Miko apologizes for not answering sooner due to spending life & time while the money-hungry “St. Patrick’s” samples “C.R.E.A.M. (Cash Rules Everything Around Me)” by the almighty Wu-Tang Clan talking about being in the trap house getting his funds up & beef going hand-to-hand in hip hop.

21 Savage joins C on the 3rd single “GBP” highlighting the contrasts between the 2 artists’ roots & dealing with the struggles of street life while “Top” premeditates a graceful exit in the midst of trying to maintain. “Up North” maintains a UK drill flare talking about the life we live being as hostile as it already is, but then “CRG” featuring Dave finds the pair encouraging everyone to slow down with the greatness because it has to take time looking back on going from financial hardships to riches.

“Limitless” produced by Einer Bankz balances ambition & emotional burdens by tackling the internal conflict between wanting to escape his past & the sacrifices required to achieve financial success just before “Now We’re Strangers” tells an ex of his that he hopes she finds her way back home. “Truth in the Lies” featuring Lil Durk flips “So Sick” by Ne-Yo admitting to feeling suicidal without their partners’ love while “10” featuring Skepta boasts that they’re in UK top 3 every year.

Lil Baby accompanies C for “BAND4BAND” dropping braggadocio together while “Gen Z Luv” serves as an open letter to Madeline Argy. The song “Walk in Wardrobe” is a 2-parter promising to do it all again if he goes broke while “Must Be” talks about what his definition of “real” is. “Don’t Know Anymore” closes C’s debut doing more than 10,000 hours for him to get into the position that he’s at currently.

Catching onto him after a string of high profile guest appearances from The Kid Laroi to J. Cole & Ice Spice, I can definitely understand why Central C has becoming increasingly popular although the way he pulls off the UK drill/pop rap crossovers doesn’t necessarily appeal to me. The sampling of R&B & even Brazilian funk music is cool & I can’t deny that he’s come a long way from his earlier output.

Score: 2/5

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SZA – “Lana” review

St. Louis singer/songwriter SZA finally releasing her 3rd studio LP. Breaking out over a decade ago in the alternative R&B scene off the strength of her first 2 EPs SEE·SZA·RUN & S, she would eventually sign to Top Dawg Entertainment in the summer of 2013 & has since made herself home with the west coast label by putting out her 3rd EP Z alongside the RCA Records distributed full-length debut CTRL. Her sophomore effort S.O.S. went more contemporary & is celebrating it’s 2-year anniversary with Lana.

“No More Hiding” produced by Michael Uzowuru is this drumless, acoustic R&B opener singing about having to build everything twice over whereas “What Do I Do” takes the moody trap soul route instrumentally thanks to benny blanco & Cashmere Cat telling her ex that called her on accident that it’s too late & their relationship won’t be the same ever again. “30 for 30” featuring Super Bowl LVI & Super Bowl LIX halftime show performer Kendrick Lamar samples “Throw Some D’s” by Rich Boy saying “fuck you” to the haters if they’re saying it first while “Diamond Boy (DTM)” strips the drums again to sing about being addicted to her new man.

Meanwhile on “BMF”, we have SZA coming through with some summertime vibes describing a young & handsome man from southwest Detroit who happens to be fly & bossy just before the atmospheric “Scorsese Baby Daddy” admits to hating being the one that’s doing the most & being addicted to the drama. “Love Me 4 Me” slickly sings about romanticize the scariest things & asking her new partner if they love her for herself, but then “Chill Baby” gives off a moody boom bap approach courtesy of Cade & Lil Yachty finding a bitter piece.

“My Turn” brings a trap soul flare back to the table giving her partner his turn to do the hurtin’ because she deserves it & still digs him even if life ain’t fair at all while “Crybaby” lusciously addresses the public’s perception of her being overly sensitive & emotionally vulnerable. “Kitchen” has some cool psychedelic guitar licks throughout breaking down the difficulty of doing the right thing sometimes & after the “Got Behind Me” interlude, “Drive” returns to a drumless edge singing about driving in the middle of the night.

Reaching the final moments of Lana, “Another Life” hooks up some synthesizers knowing that she & her partner could ride down asking him if he would still love her in an alternate reality wanting to be by his side & the lead single “Saturn” finishes the S.O.S. follow-up that’s been in the making ever since the predecessor initially came out a couple winters ago blending neo-soul, alternative R&B trip hop, psychedelic pop & psychedelic soul explaining her confusion of this world.

Don Toliver joins SZA on the contemporary/psychedelic folk-inspired “Joni” to start the deluxe run of Lana sampling “Angeles” by Elliott Smith written from the perspective of Joni Mitchell while “Take You Down” asks her lover if he you mean all the shit he said the other day & if he was just talkin’ or tryna swing her way. The final bonus track “PSA” takes it back to her alternative R&B roots singing that she doesn’t want anyone calling her anything other than #1.

Hitting a healthier mental state than when she recorded her past 2 albums, Lana only a month after her upcoming Grand National Tour co-headliner Kendrick surprise-dropped GNX feels more ready to move on & let go as opposed to being overly burdened by past hurt. Finding solace in meditation & yoga, her growing sense of inner peace reflected on the most personal body of work that the generational talent of an alternative R&B singer has ever crafted giving the world a look at where stands presently expanding on S.O.S.’ contemporary sound in favor of trap soul, neo-soul, alternative R&B, bedroom pop, contemporary folk & psychedelic folk.

Score: 4.5/5

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Roy Wood$ – “Rolling Stone” review

Roy Wood$ is a 28 year old rapper & singer/songwriter from Brampton, Ontario, Canada whom Drake signed to OVO Sound a decade ago already. He has since gone on to release a total of 3 full-length studio LPs & 3 EPs, with the most notable of the handful being the 2015 debut EP Exis & of course the debut album Walking at Dawn the following winter. Following the sophomore effort Say Less, his output since then has been welcomed to generally mixed to negative responses across the spectrum & I wanted to go into his 4th EP open minded.

“Solo” is this mediocrely melodic trap opening talking about the way this bitch be freakin’ him whereas “She Don’t Care About My Name” feels like a throwback to his earlier stuff from the atmospheric instrumental to the heartbroken lyrics explaining that this particular romantic interest could give a fuck less of getting to know him more. “Rockstar Baby” hooks up some pianos & hi-hats to talk about his new chick being so down while “Outside” hops over a generic trap beat tryna take this woman out of the party.

The song “Hold Still” reaches the starting point of Rolling Stone’s final leg by heading for a cloudy direction instrumentally & laying these thirsty ass lyrics on top of it prior to “Bring It to the Room” hilariously ripping off The Weeknd, who Drake almost signed to OVO & fell out with him after dissing on the We Still Don’t Trust You highlight “All to Myself” this spring. “Nobody Else” featuring 03 Greedo ends the EP talking about a woman who doesn’t want anyone else loving her & Greedo going the hardest.

My opinions on some of the OVO artists’ latest output including Majid Jordan’s 4th album Good People named after the singer/producer duo’s original moniker or Naomi Sharon’s debut album Obsidian & namely PARTYNEXTDOOR’s 4th album PARTYNEXTDOOR 4 haven’t really changed, but Rolling Stone has to be the most underwhelming body of work that the camp has put out in a while. The production is generally subpar & Roy himself sounds like as if he’s uninterested for at least 60% of the time.

Score: 2/5

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Dax – “From a Man’s Perspective” review

This is sophomore full-length studio LP from St. John’s, Newfoundland & Labrador, Canada rapper Dax. Working as a janitor before blowing up after dropping the single “YourWorthIt.org” with Hopsin in the summer of 2018, this was followed up with his debut EP It’s Different Now shortly after & the I’ll Say It For You EP under the Strange Music subsidiary It Goes Up Entertainment. Pain Paints Pictures was one of the worst debuts of this decade & 3 years later, he’s returning From a Man’s Perspective now that he’s signed to Columbia Records.

The title track starts with a melodramatically cloudy opener talking about wanting to be with this individual for the night whereas the acoustic “Took My Heart Out” whines about not wanting to use his heart anymore & comes off as sappy than genuine. “Place of Peace” works in a guitar & some fingersnaps telling his significant other than he wants to go to her for peace while “A Real Man” talks about what this woman wants not being legitimate.

“Soldier” featuring Tom MacDonald ends the first leg with a tedious far-right propaganda joint which is odd because neither of them are from the United States just before “To Be a Man” takes a laughable shot a county rap & it’s not Darius Rucker’s fault. “Lonely Dirt Road” mixes cloud rap & pop rap escaping to a place where no one knows, but then “You’re the Problem” tries to gaslight his critics saying their dislike for his music comes from a reflection of theirselves.

The penultimate song “Diary of a Man Trying” nears the conclusion of From a Man’s Perspective talking about trying to move on GPSing all his thoughts even if they wind up leading him to places that’ll hurt him & finally, “I Hate That I Love You” ends the album by dissing the mother of his child as if he’s Eminem in the late 90s/early 2000s, who has always been an influence to Dax except that he exemplifies Em’s worst traits to a new level.

From the moment that Falling in Reverse put out Popular Monster this summer up until now, I wasn’t sure if there could be a hip hop album that could match the metalcore offering in terms of being unlistenable & Dax sure enough manages to do it with a month left in the year. The mainly country rap influenced production is tasteless & his subject matter delivered From a Man’s Perspective feels more trite rather than sincere. Tyler, The Creator’s 7th album Chromakopia does a significantly better job of providing introspection than this.

Score: 0/5

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Babystaydown – “Pain Before Pleasure” review

Athens, Georgia recording artist Babystaydown back with his 8th EP & Cegular Records sophomore effort. Introducing himself off his debut EP PL Top Recruits as well as 1,350 and Drugz Sex & Money, the latter of which spawned a sequel of it’s own this spring succeeding 17 & preceding his final independent release Genesis later in the summer. Signing to Whyceg’s newly formed Sony Music imprint not too long ago, he’s coming off his debut for the label Hate da Way Um Livin’ a few months earlier by breaking down the Pain Before Pleasure.

“Real Rich” opens with a cloudy trap instrumental talking about getting to the money has become a daily routine for him whereas “Handstand” goes for a pluggier vibe to the beat feelin’ like Marilyn Manson for fuckin’ a female rockstar. “How I Feel” produced by mxrt4lity atmospherically lets the world in as to what’s been on his mind lately while the pluggy “No Choice” assures that anyone around him can leave if they really wanted to & that they’re not being held against their will.

Jripey appears for “Taylor Port” starting the 2nd half of the EP by teaming up over a plugg instrumental from Hariroc talking about being too bad for good women leading into my favorite track “Block List” finding himself getting blocked on the Meta Platforms-owned Instagram by a baddie who was topless the night prior with an Ayelavish! & SOULJASPIRITS beat backing him. “Birthday” flexes that this fine bitch has been tryna get with what he does & “Ignoto” finishes by talking about so high that he can’t even see the bottle.

There’s only a small handful of songs I could’ve done without, but Babystaydown nonetheless comes back a week succeeding Pradabagshawty’s last EP Forever & After to drop off another short collection of plugg/trap songs that almost reach the same pedestal as it’s predecessor a couple months earlier. Now that both of Cegular’s inaugural signings have both dropped more than 1 project since getting their respective deals, I’m fairly confident 2025 could push themselves further in the plugg subgenre of trap than they’ve already reached.

Score: 3.5/5

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RRoxket – Self-Titled review

Here we have the eponymous sophomore mixtape from up-&-coming Atlanta, Georgia rapper RRoxket. Emerging in 2022 off his debut EP Rixhie Rixh & the full-length debut album R.I.P. RRoxket, he would go on to drop 3 more EPs Happy Birthday RRoxket as well as RRoxket Valentine and Red M&M ahead of his debut tape Red Ranger that was preluded by his last EP High School Flunky. Almost 5 months later, he’s dropping a self-titled effort on Black Friday after officially signing to Sony Music.

“Goyard” gets it all goin’ by jumping over a plugg instrumental showing off the new bag that he copped from the titular French luxury goods brand whereas “Wockhardt” hooks up a delicate backdrop with some hi-hats from Hariroc knowing the spot hot since he got fires going on there. “Pizza Box” featuring 2sdxrt3all keeps the plugg vibes going thanks to Whyceg flexing that their Glocks be talkin’ to one another just before “Serious” advises to drop the addy since he’s going huntin’ sampling “Astrothunder” by Travis Scott.

As for “Abnormal Pedestrian”, we have RRoxket over more plugg beats boasting his Red Ranger steppin’ up for his gang & lettin’ out his anger leading into “Backwards” giving off a hazier vibe instrumentally keeping a stick on him as if he’s in battle & going shadow by putting on all black. “Free GBE” compares his trap to a lair with the way the chemistry be going on in there leading into “Flying” maintaining a plugg flare to count green as if he’s Irish.

“Bag Shipped” starts the final leg of the tape with the percs making him do backflips while “Brandon Ingram” brings some dark plugg undertones to the table weighing the dope in grams ahead of “Demon Takeover” produced by Goxan referencing WWE Hall of Famer, former 2-time WWE world champion, ECW World Television Champion, 6-time WWE Intercontinental Champion, 5-time WWE Tag Team Champion, 4-time & the final WWE Hardcore Champion, TNA World Champion & TNA X Division Champion Rob Van Dam.

Pushing further towards the final moments of the tape, the song “Bizurk” stands out with one of my personal favorite beats on the tape assuring that ain’t nothin’ takin’ off despite RRoxket’s moniker in addition to pullin’ up with the drums as if there’s a marching band out here & callin’ a homie Tity Boi as if he’s 2 Chainz while the shimmery trap closer “Who That Is” boasting that he’s a lamb since he’s not a goat quite yet & a real deal geeker.

There’s been a lot of buzz generating around this guy ever since this past summer when Red Ranger initially dropped & although I’m not embarrassed to admit I wasn’t all too familiar with RRoxket’s music until this eponymous mixtape came out, I can definitely see why he’s been becoming popular within the plugg & dark plugg subgenres of trap music making witty references & detailing the street mentality he’s had coming up.

Score: 3.5/5

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Pradabagshawty – “Forever & After” review

Here’s the 4th EP from Columbia, South Carolina born albeit Atlanta, Georgia rapper Pradabagshawty. Introducing himself last summer off his debut EP Bloxk Addiktion, he would go on to follow it up with 1 Love & the Cegular Records debut 10 Freak Ho’s found Whyceg making him the 2nd artist to sign to his newly formed Sony Music imprint after Babystaydown. A couple months after his debut under the label Hate da Way Um Livin’, the pressure’s being applied with Forever & After.

The intro “Plate” clocks in at 108 seconds talking about loving paper more than hoes & staying on the block for days whereas “Living Room” doesn’t shy away from admitting that he pops an adderrall when he wakes up every single morning over a Hariroc beat referencing Eric André, host of the greatest talk show of all-time The Eric André Show that ran for 5 seasons on the Discovery Global owned Cartoon Network subsidiary [adult swim].

Babystaydown saves the best guest appearance of the 3 for “Clueless” offering a glimpse of their chemistry while “Sub 0” featuring Bakkdoeshawty references former 6-time WWE world champion, WWE Intercontinental Champion, WWE tag team champion, 2-time AEW World Champion, inaugural ROH Hall of Fame inductee, ROH World Champion, 2-time ROH World Tag Team Champion & 5-time IWA World Champion CM Punk over a Whyceg beat. “Tangled Up” takes a pluggier vibe instrumentally talking about getting caught up between 2 hoes while “Mary Jane” could probably be my favorite track personally being a stoner myself.

The song “U Cried” featuring ImSoMarcus & produced by SOULJASPIRITS begins the EP’s final leg with both of them reflecting on going from not having shit to being locked in but after “Green n Goin’” talks about not doing relationships because he’ll end up leaving a bitch if she happens to bore him over a piano instrumental from Wizardpem, the closing track “Rehab” finishes by admitting that he needs serious help with his addiction to drugs.

Bloxk Addiktion as well as 1 Love & 10 Freak Ho’seach had their own individual amount of standouts that captured Pradabagshawty’s potential in the plugg/gangsta rap scenes, but Forever & After surpasses 1 Love in becoming his greatest extended play yet & revealing that he a lot like Babystaydown are leading the charge regarding Cegular Records’ popularity increasing heading into the new year. Although I could’ve done without a couple guests, production is prominently centered around trap this time around with plugg still included as a minor influence & Prada’s pen further suffices.

Score: 4/5

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Matt Champion – “Slint’s Favorite” review

This is the 2nd EP from Woodlands, Texas rapper, singer/songwriter & producer Matt Champion. A founding member of the now defunct BROCKHAMPTON collective, he also released a solo EP Harley in the spring of 2017 right before the classic SATURATION trilogy & Mika’s Laundryfrom this spring showed the versatility that he was very much capable of. 8 months later, Matt’s surprise-dropping Slint’s Favorite.

“Faye” fuses experimental hip hop, trap, cloud rap, alternative R&B, witch house & industrial hip hop to talk about being haunted while “Hacker”works in elements of alt-pop, neo-soul, alternative R&B & psychedelic soul singing that he wants a home run. “SPJ” produced by Romil Hemnani brings indietronica, alt-pop, minimal wave, alternative R&B & neo-soul together asking if everyone would erase their minds if it was easier prior to “Ash” featuring Deb Never finishing the EP pulling from bedroom pop, alt-pop, downtempo, alternative R&B, art pop, neo-soul & dream pop wanting to know why they don’t ask each other out anymore.

Ahead of his solo set at Camp Flog Gnaw this weekend, Matt whips up a 4-track EP that continues to demonstrate the artistic range prominently shown throughout Mika’s Laundry earlier within the year. Styles like experimental hip hop, trap, cloud rap, alternative R&B, witch house, industrial hip hop, alt-pop, neo-soul, psychedelic soul, indietronica, minimal wave, bedroom pop, downtempo, art pop & dream pop all shift into 1 another fluidly during the span of 12 minutes.

Score: 4/5

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Young Nudy – “Sli’merre 2” review

Atlanta, Georgia rapper Young Nudy back for his 10th mixtape. Despite being cousins with 21 Savage, he eventually carved a lane of his own in the last decade with his last 9 mixtapes (the most notable one being the Pi’erre Bourne-produced Sli’merre) & 3 full-lengths. Rich Shooter & EA Monster were the last projects of his that I covered, coming off Gumbo from a year & a half to reunite with Pi’erre for the highly awaited Sli’merre 2 ahead of his next album fully produced by Metro Boomin’.

“Come to My World” is this syrupy trap intro talking about Nudy being way too geeked up as it is whereas “Get Fucked Up” works in some synthesizers & hi-hats once again not shying away from making it known that he’s under the influence. “Money” pushes forward with an uncanny trap atmosphere instrumentally stacking his bread all the way up to the ceiling prior to “I’m Big Dawg” hookin’ the synths back up in order for him to flex his current status in the rap game.

Moving on from there, “Breakdown” kinda has this bubbly trap flare to the beat talking about doing shakedowns taking everything since he’s #1 & everyone else is right behind him just before “Bang Pistols” pulls a bit from the plugg scene showing off his mob ties. “Loaded” is another synthesizer-heavy trap joint boasting that he’s sitting on millions leading into “Splash” sampling “NEVEREVER” by Destroy Lonely addressing the theme of lust.

“10pc Teriyaki” kicks off the 2nd half of Sli’merre 2 on a playful tip maintaining a synth-trap edge talking about being a star in the subgenre & smiling at his opps while “Gotta Salute” flexing that his clique remains bulletproof on top of broke muhfuckas being unable to do what he does. The prominent woodwinds throughout “Save Myself” featuring BabyDrill are a uniquely distinct touch getting on their gangsta shit referencing current AEW performer & commentator as well as former 7-time WWE world champion, 11-time WWE Tag Team Champion, WWE Intercontinental Champion, WWE United States Champion & 3-time WWE Hardcore Champion Paul Wight while “4Slime” cloudily talks being a stone cold killer.

Meanwhile on “Bloody”, we have Nudy beginning the final leg of the tape by cautioning that he’ll shut down your trap the second he pulls up speaking the truth on wax since it’s beyond rap while the synthesizer-driven “Hakuna Matata” gets down & dirty. The lead single “Right Now” remains in the trap house tryna beat it ’til it down & finally, “How It Be” ends with more synths telling everyone who ain’t getting money to get the fuck off his dick.

Over 5 years since the original, Sli’merre 2 recaptures the essence of what made Sli’merre the best mixtape in Nudy’s catalog since Nudy Land & joins it’s predecessor as one of the most essential bodies of work in his catalog. Granted you can never go wrong with Pi’erre’s 1-of-a-kind production style top to bottom, but I most importantly appreciate the fact Nudy got lesser guests than he did last time he did a tape with Pi’erre & mostly held it on his own.

Score: 4.5/5

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