Tag: Speed

Nascar Aloe – “Speed” review

Nascar Aloe is a 24 year old rapper & producer from Lexington, North Carolina who’s released a total 6 EPs as well as a mixtape & a full-length debut album since the late 2010s. He even performed at the 21st annual Gathering of the Juggalos in the summer of 2021, which to date is the only Gathering that I personally have been to. Now his set didn’t do much for me, but I could definitely see why he was booked for the festival since he’s in that trap metal subgenre. That said: I didn’t realize that he was signed to Epitaph Records since the beginning of the decade actually & hoped that his 7th EP would win me over.

The titular intro screams his brains out over a self-produced industrial beat to stop playing with him whereas “Blitz” mixes trap metal with synth-punk talking about wanting full-blown destruction as opposed to a bust down. “S.M.B.U. (Smack My Bitch Up)” dabbles with drum & bass feeling like wanting to assault his girl just before “Fuck! Ah!” featuring N8NOFACE returns to an industrial sound about your head looking better when it’s decapitated.

“Chum Reap Suor” brings a bouncier instrumental into the fold while “Skidrow” asks if you want to stroll down the streets of the slums mixing rage with pop rap & trap metal. “Tall Cans” featuring St!nk gives drum & bass another shot reminding life isn’t nice & you’re all fucked to them that is until “In My Head” finishes the EP by tackling themes of paranoia.

There are artists in trap metal like City Morgue or the Dropout Kings & Ghostemane who all do that style of music incredibly well, but others simply don’t scratch that same itch for me like Kid Bookie & you can throw Nascar Aloe in there too. He’s actually not a bad producer at all & there are some interesting ideas in his production, I just can’t say the same about his songwriting & performances.

Score: 2/5

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Da Cloth – “Da Fixtape” review

Da Cloth is a hip hop outfit from Rochester, New York consisting of Mooch, Rigz, M.A.V., Rob Gates, Times Change, Illanoise, Symph & Speed. They first started making noise in the underground in 2016 when the group put out The Fixtape & then Broad Day Kidnaps the following year, but their profile grew as each member starting putting out projects of their own. Whether that be Mooch’s Boss Sauce, Rigz’ Roach Gutta Slums, M.A.V.’s Hoodlum, Rob Gates’ Rob Like Get Robbed as well as their respective collab albums The Only Way Out & The Dark Side of Nature (the latter of the 2 both feature Big Ghost Ltd. production front to back). But to continue their prolific year, everyone’s getting back together for another collective mixtape.

The tape starts off with “Last Dose”, where Da Cloth paint some vivid street imagery about over a deadly instrumental. The next song “Count Us In” is a Mooch solo cut about how his crew is gonna be winning over a boom bap beat while the track “Back Door” talks about the block being hot over an eerie instrumental. The song “Ask Me Why” opens about the ugly shit they’ve been through over an weepy loop provided by Nicholas Craven & after the “Hardest Out” skit, the track “When the Studio Talked Back” sees Rigz going solo to demonically attack wack rappers over an gritty boom bap from Chup.

The song “Shake ‘Em” gets violent over a chilling sample while “Speaker of the House” sees M.A.V. on his own talking about turning nothing into everything over an instrumental with a depressing atmosphere to it. The song “All About the Money” lyrically needs no further explanation with spine-tingling beat from Eto while the track “Role Models” celebrates their success over a boom bap beat with a killer guitar passage throughout.

The song “Hobbies” is a Rob Gates solo cut about busting his gun for fun over a grim instrumental from V Don while the track “Too Much” with Tekk 9 talks about there being enough nonsense & bullshit over a beat with a somewhat whimsical feel to it. The song “31 to 62” gets on their hustling shit over an electrifying instrumental while the track “Stretched” gets back with Tekk 9 once again to call out the rats over a boom bap beat with a bleak piano loop.

The closer “Ready” shows how ambitious they are over a rock-flavored instrumental while the first bonus track “Da Big Fish” talks about being top dogs over a desolate beat. The other bonus cut “Made Me What I Am” then discuses how they became the men they are today over some icy keyboards.

We all know Griselda have been the current Kings of New York for quite some time now but if you ask me, Da Cloth is right behind them. Each member continues to stand out in their own unique way & given how much all 8 of them have evolved in the last 3-4 years, hearing the crew together again in full effect has made them stronger than ever before.

Score: 4/5