Upfront MC – “Headrush” review

Bristol, England, United Kingdom’s very own Upfront MC returning for his 2nd extended play. A member of the Split Prophets collective, he would make his solo debut in 2012 off the Sound of Evolution… EP followed by the debut album Upfront & Personal and the sophomore effort Lettermorphosis. Coming off the inaugural entry of the Throwaway Thursdays mixtape series a couple years earlier, coming off Reflections to link up with Badhabitz & have his crew’s in-house producer solely handling Headrush’s production by himself.

“Nothing Guaranteed” hops over a cloudy boom bap instrumental to talk about embracing everything you have while it’s here prior to him confessing he’s been trying to “Stay Afloat”, advising everyone to accept change being a part of the process. “Toxic” hooks up more kicks & snares so he can talk about him losing his sanity being the cost of this music shit leading into “Daily Struggle” ending the 1st leg of the EP on a cloudier note explaining that there’s always a message within his rhyme patterns.

To get the 2nd half going, “Perspective” brings up a piano flip to talk about the issues of balancing the dreams he has & living in reality while the cavernously raw “C.B.F. (Can’t Be Fucked)” rawly asks if anyone has ever woken up feeling like nobody can fuck with them. “Fine Lines” leans towards an uncanny boom bap direction telling the world to not let anything break you & “Feel the Fear” somberly concludes with him talking about the Devil inside of his ear.

Over a decade since Sound of Evolution… & with the 10-year anniversary of Upfront & Personal approaching next summer, one of the Split Prophets’ strongest links moves on from his Reflections to embark on a sudden feeling of hardcore boom bap euphoria dropping what I firmly believe could be his greatest entry in his whole entire solo catalog. Badhabitz’ boom bap production is a cut above beppo’s 9 months earlier & lyrically, the Upfront MC is in top form.

Score: 4.5/5

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Flying Monk – “Skullduggery” review

Flying Monk is a 30 year old MC from Bristol, England, United Kingdom known for being apart of the Split Prophets collective. Although he’s made a handful of guest appearances across multiple releases over the course of almost a decade like his fellow Prophet brethren Upfront MC or Res 1’s respective solo debuts Upfront & Personal and Delph Efficiency as well as Datkid’s first EP Grubby Mits to name a few, but has yet to make a proper collection of solo output until this extended play.

After the intro, “Fuck the Fame” gets things going with this creepy boom bap instrumental from Axel Holy explaining that the Monk could give a fuck less about the clout whereas “The Get Back” produced by Badhabitz offering advice on what to do if you wanna talk shit. “Can’t Deny” eerily talks about the Prophets never falling because they’re too fly & after telling all these muhfuckas to get their asses “Back to Work”, the final song “Levels” concludes by boasting that he’s on a level they didn’t think he could reach

Unfortunately he has since passed away, but I’m happy that Flying Monk was able to give us Skullduggery when he had the chance considering that Bil Next is now the only remaining Split Prophet who has yet to go solo much like how Salar’s the only Cult of the Damned member that doesn’t have any solo material under his belt. From the grimy production Badhabitz handles 60% of to Anbu flowing without the need of any guest appearances, this EP proves exactly what he was capable of doing on his own.

Score: 4/5

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Datkid – “Wakmo” review

This is the 6th studio LP from Bristol, England, United Kingdom emcee Datkid. Beginning as a part of the Split Prophets, he began embarking on a solo career in the summer of 2011 off Dkay n Gramma as well as a subsequent sophomore effort called Home by 8 a little over 8 months later & Teeth Ledger. Confessions of a Crud Lordproduced by Real Life Drama Records co-founder Leaf Dog of The 4 Owls under High Focus Recordshas already become one of the label’s greatest releases, coming off Sleepless in Pinhoe to have Illinformed fully produce Wakmo.

“Take the Wheel” opens up shop incorporating this bloodcurdling boom bap instrumental talking about his mind state being all or nothing whereas “Thick Lip” hooks up a ghostly backdrop layered with kicks & snares speaking of him trying to upgrade his life. “1 Way or Another” talks about being so bucked to the point where he forgot what he got high off of & pressing for numbers when stressed leading into Bil Next & Wish Master helping him explain they get busy where it’s “Crooked”.

Sean Peng joins Datkid on “Look Up” telling all the lazy muhfuckas who stay hungry to get up off their asses & chase a bag just before “Nothing But” featuring Leaf Dog talks about driving cars like they stole ‘em when that’s most likely the case & refusing to let anyone sit near them if they have nothing to offer. “Where You At” keeps that crud packaged & delivered advising everyone who’s looking for him to come find him while “Aktive” talks about having too much game for pussy rappers to handle, later suggesting those nearby to keep it friendly & not tempt him because hems been keeping his composure.

“Thorn in Your Side” featuring Babylon Dead blends these strings with more kicks & snares seeing the jealousy in the eyes of people who hold envy towards Datkid & Jman for being the successful underground artists they’ve become while “Chitchat” featuring D£DW8 reaches the halfway point with the 2 talking about haters fearing their greatness. “Don’t Lie” featuring Crossbow T & Mistafire contemplates the idea of leaving the trio’s competition missing like Jimmy Hoffa while “Steve Harper” featuring Smellington Piff trades the mic back-&-forth for a few minutes.

Instrumentally, “Line It Up” somewhat reminds me of the Outsidaz joint “Get the Dick” off Bizarre’s solo debut EP Attack of the Weirdos! making wine out of everything he’s being hearing through the grapevine while “This Place” talks about making money to spending it frivolously. “Scrub Your Hands” featuring ManLikeMally speaks of being corrupted from the very beginning while “Fentanyl” featuring Babylon Dead, Bil Next, Eric the Red, Jack Jetson, Res 1, Tona Montona & Wyatt Earp made for a decent UK hip hop posse cut.

The title track ruggedly talks about catching cases on top of shutting down every spot he pulls up to while “Dole Benefit Claimers” featuring Res 1 links back up so they can get discuss always being up to shit giving a fuck less regarding who likes it or not. “Dunno” featuring BVA & Verb T samples “40 Oz.” by D12 during the hook talking about all 3 of them smoking weed & drinking alcohol while “Slime” finishes with him trying to stick to the game plan making money although it doesn’t go that way sometimes.

Sleepless in Pinhoe a couple months ago left me torn in comparison to Confessions of a Crud Lord& despite liking Wakmo more than it’s predecessor merely 7 weeks earlier, there’s a part of me that believes I could’ve enjoyed it way more because the singles that teased for it had me under the impression it would be my 2nd favorite Datkid solo project. Illinformed’s production takes it back to the traditional boom bap sound instead of continuing to experiment with trap music, but there is some occasional filler & he didn’t have to bring a guest performer besides throughout half of it.

Score: 3.5/5

Joey Paro – “Victory Gin” review

Here is the solo debut extended play from Bristol, England, United Kingdom emcee Joey Paro. A member of the Split Prophets collective, he & Bil Next would team up on New Year’s Day 2014 for the collaborative EP Weedmasons, but hasn’t dropped a full project by himself up until this point. I did however enjoy his guest appearances on Eric the Red’s debut album Caught Red Handed & Res 1’s sophomore effort A Dog’s Dreams both entirely produced by Illinformed, the latter of whom has now been brought in to fully produce Victory Gin.

The title track jumps over a cinematic boom bap instrumental talking about catching him inside of the kitchen sipping on a type of distilled alcoholic beverage he’s been saving from a celebratory occasion whereas “The Fall” featuring Eric the Red & Smellington Piff finds the trio dropping hardcore verses without a hook over this orchestrally raw beat. “Mobin’” featuring Datkid & Res 1 sees all 3 of them talking about living fast until their vitals crash while “No Fill” featuring Upfront MC work in some keys to discuss growing up with white trash.

Bil Next & Flying Monk are the only 2 Split Prophets who have yet to go solo, but I’m happy one of the Weedmasons was able to share some Victory Gin with the fans who’ve been waiting for this day to come & bringing one of the UK hip hop scene’s greatest producers on board to provide a brief look at Joey Paro individually. Illinformed’s production is on par with Res 1’s sophomore effort A Dog’s Dreams & despite there being a guest appearance on almost every single, they’re all on his level of penmanship.

Score: 4/5

Datkid – “Confessions of a Crud Lord” review

Bristol, England, United Kingdom emcee Datkid officially making his debut for High Focus Records debut with the 4th studio LP in his discography. Beginning as a part of the Split Prophets, he began embarking on a solo career in the summer of 2011 off Dkay n Gramma & the subsequent sophomore effort called Home by 8 a little over 8 months later. Coming off Teeth Ledger however, Real Life Drama Records co-founder Leaf Dog of The 4 Owls being picked to fully produce Confessions of a Crud Lord had it shaping up to be the most important entry of Datkid’s individual catalog a week after Aussie Open became the new RPW British Tag Team Champions.

“Fire in My Belly” opens up with a boom bap intro talking about his opponents being worse actors than the entire cast of modern day EastEnderswhereas “Myth” marks the return of the all-time dirtiest continuing to make history 2 decades later. “Crud Addict” issues a warning that he’s the very last person one should be bringing drama to just before “The Chosen One” keeps things in the basement instrumentally talking about being prophetic.

To kick off the 2nd quarter, “I’m Nice” hooks up a grungy sample so he can talk about keeping his focus toward bringing his audience some crud for them to bump prior to “Briefcase” featuring Westside Gunn handcuffing suitcases to their wrists referencing 2-time WWE Hall of Famer, 4-time WWE world champion, WWE Intercontinental Champion, 6-time WWE tag team champion & the newest writer/producer of their developmental NXT brand Shawn Michaels.

“Lord Give Me Patience” takes a moment to ask God to grant him perseverance & searching for a sign because he’s getting hungrier the more time goes faster while “Heroin” eerily promises that he can rap around his opposition on his tiptoes if he really wanted to. “Eyes” featuring Conway the Machine begins the 2nd half wanting to smoke weed & count money over a piano mixed with kicks & snares while “Money & Dip” dives deeper down the mafioso rabbit hole.

Roc Marciano joins Datkid for “Scheme On” talking about what their backup plan is if their music careers don’t pan out the way they hope it will & Marc explaining that people will go the way wind blows because they have no loyalty but once “Blank Page goes for an orchestral boom bap vibe wanting to bring life to his notebook by using his pen to write rhymes, “Grown Up” soulfully finds himself caught in the middle of Commissioner Gordons & 2-Faces from the Warner Bros. subsidiary DC Entertainment owned Batman franchise.

The song “Cook Book” nears Confessions of a Crud Lord’s final moments whippin’ some gourmet & coming out claim his stake while the penultimate track “Crud Lord” shifts towards a funky boom bap direction to the beat essentially breaking down his position as a boss of his own style that he calls “crud”. Taking up the last few minutes, “Hoes” wraps it all up by setting out to rule the money out of greed & have women surrounding him.

High Focus Records has been heralding Datkid’s inaugural opus under the Hove, East Sussex imprint to be the grimiest musical statement in the label’s entire discography almost a decade after it’s formation & I can’t even complain with that statement now that Confessions of a Crud Lord has arrived in full since the Split Prophets member’s greatest entry of his solo catalog comfortably fits up in the ranks of that discourse. Leaf Dog’s cooks up amongst the dirtiest production of his career & Bristol’s finest reminds the world why he’s amongst the UK’s most proficient lyricists.

Score: 4.5/5

Split Prophets – “The Forecast” review

The Split Prophets are a hip hop collective from Bristol, England, United Kingdom consisting of Datkid, Upfront MC, Res 1, Joey Paro, Bil Next, Flying Monk & Badhabitz. Forming in 2012, they would go on to drop their first couple of EPs The High Life and Southbound & Down the following year. They would eventually make their full-length debut at the beginning of 2016 with Delta Bravo Kilo, returning 3 years later with their 3rd extended play.

Datkid & Upfront MC hop over a jazzy boom bap beat during the intro “Bad News” pleading to stop with all the nonsense whereas “Mustard” goes for a cavernously raw approach instrumentally talking about how every single member has been taking their own steps in becoming more successful. “Paperback Book” blends a guitar sample with some kicks & snares for a hardcore hip hop joint reminiscent of the ‘90s just before “You Do You” comes across a bit more atmospheric talking about doing your thing.

“My Team” gets the 2nd half going aggressively making it clear that nobody can match their individual flows while “6 Deep” brings back the jazz rap influences so they can tell all their haters that they’re never quitting & the haters can live with it in misery as far as the squad’s concerned. Joey Paro & Upfront MC team up on “The Monsoon” going back-&-forth with each other over an organ sample leading into Flying Monk joining them for the intro “Oii”.

Needless to say: the Split Prophets has collectively been on a musical hiatus since Delta Bravo Kilo with everyone focusing on their solo careers but whenever they’re ready to reunite for a sophomore effort, The Forecast hints at what we can expect from them in the best ways imaginable. Badhabitz’ jazzy boom bap production feels reminiscent to Illinformed’s & lyrically, they’re aren’t too far behind from the Cult of the Damned in the sense that every MC has their own way of sticking out.

Score: 4/5

Res 1 – “A Dog’s Dreams” review

This is the sophomore effort from Bristol, England, United Kingdom emcee Res 1. A member of the Split Prophets collective, he would team up with Datkid & Upfront MC for the respective collaborative Scribbled Thoughts and Drugs, Booze & Dental Issues respectively before making his solo debut Delph Efficiency in the summer of 2015 after I had graduated from high school. 3 years later, Illinformed has been brought in to fully produce A Dog’s Dreams & had high hopes for it based off both singles.

Datkid appears for the piano-driven boom bap intro “Funky Bag” so both of them can warn everyone to mind their mouths when speaking of the Prophets whereas “Blue Label” featuring Inja goes for a jazzier vibe instrumentally talking about trying to find their way out of the mist they grew up in. “No Your Business” hooks up a more soulful beat explaining that he doesn’t need to know what these other muhfuckas are doing until “Vertigo” featuring Datkid, Joey Paro & Smellington Piff lays their individually rough textured styles over a vocal sample.

“For the Love” reaches the halfway point talking about doing this music shit out of the passion he has for it over a funky instrumental just before “Too Ill” featuring Badhabitz & Bil Next kicks off the 2nd leg boasting how lyrically proficient they over a symphonic boom bap beat. “People You Know” featuring Joey Paro jazzily talks about their city being filled with a whole bunch of characters while “Living in a Snare” breaks down the circle of life over an orchestrally dusty instrumental.

The song “Mr. Contemptious” rounds out 3rd aggressively likening himself as a cross between dynamite & an open fire prior to Leaf Dog & Verb T accompanying Res to talk about life still being what they each make of it in the middle of the walls “Closing In” on all 3 of them. “84” spends the last couple minutes of the album sampling a drumless funk loop explaining that people better study up on the history of every mysterious thing that went down at the house he’s describing.

Being a fan of what Illinformed’s work with some of the biggest underground UK hip hop labels from High Focus Records to Real Life Drama Records & Lost Scroll Records, A Dog’s Dreams gave me confidence that it would surpass Delph Effiency to become the greatest entry of his entire solo career & I can verify that’s very much the case. The production’s a huge step above its predecessor a few years earlier, there’s more consistency regarding the guests’ performances & Res levels up his pen.

Score: 4/5