Pasto Flocco – “March Madness 3” review

This is the 4th mixtape from Queens rapper Pasto Flocco. Coming up as an associate of Lil Tecca, he’s seen quite the success off his own once branching out on his own by dropping his first 2 albums March Madness & Dreams 2 Reality along with a debut mixtape Surf to Kill (SGBSTK) as a member of the Surf Gang collective. Pasto rang in 2022 by dropping sophomore tape R.O.A.M. (Rich Off A Mic) under his newly founded Ghetto Luxury Entertainment & continued to build upon the sample drill sound on March Madness 2 in the spring & then Walking Glitch. He returned to a plugg sound few months ago on Rebirth & is now looking to close out the March Madness trilogy.

“James Harden (Dancing with the Stars)” is a quirky trap intro to the tape referencing Avengers leader Tony Stark or Iron Man owned by The Walt Disney Company subsidiary Marvel whereas “GLE Troopin’” cloudily represents Ghetto Luxury for roughly 90 seconds thanks to J6. “They Know!” produced by Maajins talks about everyone knowing he got swag while the self-produced “Dance Through the Storm” doesn’t shy away from detailing his recent hardships.

As for “Laughing When She Lie”, we have Pasto turning up the psychedelic trap vibes a bit laughing off his girl tryna cap to him just before the cloudy “Cali Breeze” talks about a hoe showing him ass after pissing him off although he shows her the door. “Been Gettin’ $” speaks on him gradually making paper & hanging with him not being so cheap, but then “Saddle River” dabbles with plugg flexing he got 5 Guys if it’s beef.

“$ the Route to the Evil” starts the 2nd half of March Madness 3 advising to stay clear from a certain type of people while “Reggie Bush” talks about doing too much with all these racks on him. “Fuckin’ 4 Getback” heads for a rage-inducing direction to discuss women saying they love him only for it to be bullshit later on while “Zoom!” maintains a hypertrap flare talking about how funny it is that people try to use him.

To get the 4th quarter of the tape going, “Flocc Chamberlain” works in some synths & hi-hats courtesy of Swervo of Vanguard Music Group boasting how fly he is likening himself to Wilt Chamberlain obviously while “Pour4Me” heavily relies more on synths talking about getting fucked up with him under the influence. “Why Slime Me?” goes for a spacious trap approach shrugging off the idea of him getting tired of rockin’ & rollin’ while “New $ New Gunz” wants to know what the fuck you doing if you ain’t making bread.

March Madness alongside March Madness 2 are both individually important to Pasto’s discography in their own rights & even though I don’t understand why he released the trilogy chapter at the beginning of May unlike both predecessors coming out in the exact month the saga is named after, I still enjoyed it as much as Rebirth when he made his return after 2 years. He’s obviously grown both personally & artistically almost a decade later with the production reaching the mark his most recent EP had set.

Score: 4/5

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Pasto Flocco – “Rebirth” review

Queens, New York rapper Pasto Flocco returning after a 2 year hiatus for his 8th EP. Coming up as an associate of Lil Tecca, he’s seen quite the success off his own once branching out on his own by dropping his first 2 albums March Madness & Dreams 2 Reality along with a debut mixtape Surf to Kill (SGBSTK) as a member of the Surf Gang collective. Pasto rang in 2022 by dropping sophomore tape R.O.A.M. (Rich Off A Mic) under his newly founded Ghetto Luxury Entertainment & continued to build upon the sample drill sound on March Madness 2 & Walking Glitch. The Way Lyfe Goes was a solid mix of all kinds of sounds & is returning for a Rebirth following up Flocc4President.

“My Aura” is this cloudy trap intro produced by Swervo of Vanguard Music Group talking about the chick that’s seeing him feeling the vibes he gives off generally whereas “Nick Cannon (Wylin’ Out)” works in some synthesizers to flex that he still gets these hoes going crazy even after his sabbatical. “D Rose” maintains a synth-heavy sound comparing himself to the Windy City Assassin who retired after the previous NBA season, but then “Mentally Stable” talks about stepping away to get right.

Moving on from there, “Off the Grid” goes for a plugg vibe refusing to go for 2nd place while “Jimmy Butler (Sean John)” makes a bold nod to disgraced Bad Boy Entertainment founder Puff Daddy a.k.a. P. Diddy or Diddy & that he feels like the Golden State Warriors player. “Hot Like Summer” has these fabulous synthesizers showing off his stunner status leading into “Keep It 100” calling for everyone to be legit around him.

“Accident Prone” starts the encore of Pasto’s first body of work in 2 years with a colorful plugg track talking about a clumsy woman trying to get with him & basically telling her to back the fuck up from him that is until the official closer “Lobotomy” finishes off the EP with these psychedelic synths talking about having too much on his mind calling out every fuck boy copying him these past couple years when he stepped away.

The Surf Gang nowadays is mostly known for their run as a production team since a lot of their vocalist members have departed the collective & for Pasto’s comeback effort, quite possibly my favorite member of the collective departs from the sample drill sound that was prominent on his most recent material in favor of plugg rapping as if he never even had to take a step back.

Score: 4/5

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Polo Perks – “American Pie” review

Polo Perks is a 30 year old rapper from New York notable for formerly being a member of the Surf Gang in addition to the 13 EPs & 3 mixtapes of his own that he has built up for himself since 2018 already. He just linked up with AyooLii & Feardorian for the collaborative effort A Dog’s Chance this summer becoming the most acclaimed body of work in the lowend subgenre thus far, returning 6 months later to drop off his 14th EP hopefully ahead of an upcoming full-length debut studio album & only 48 hours away from the current 2-time ROH World Champion Chris Jericho’s defense against the inaugural WWE Women’s Champion Chelsea Green’s husband in former DDT普遍的な王座, GCW World Champion, ECW World Television Champion, HoG Heavyweight Champion, TNA Digital Media Champion, NWA World’s Heavyweight Champion, WWE Intercontinental Champion, WWE United States Champion & 2-time WWE tag team champion Matt Cardona.

“Sir Loogie Noise” starts by jumping over a distorted, sample-driven lowend instrumental from Feardorian talking about being in his head and showing him the money if you want him to come to your party whereas “Elvis Presley is Dead as Fuck” dabbles with digicore flexing that he’s too turnt at the moment. “Skramz” goes for a hazier lowend vibe except that Polo’s vocals are mixed too low for my tastes & finally, “Stay Gold” featuring Reno ends with both of them dropping braggadocio over a flute-based beat.

What has always made Polo stand out for me is that he’s constantly trying new sounds from plugg to cloud rap, sample drill or emo rap & American Pie comes off A Dog’s Chance by continuing to do that. The lowend production from that previous collab album makes its way over here in addition to pulling further inspiration from the jerk, midwest emo & emo rap scenes as he offers a take on all those styles that’s more exciting than what other artists have been recently doing for roughly 7 & a half minutes.

Score: 3.5/5

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Valee – “Great Sky London” review

New York producer Evilgiane teaming up with Chicago, Illinois rapper Valee for the latter’s 7th EP. Making his name known by releasing 3 mixtapes & a couple EPs from the span of 2015-2018, it wasn’t until one of my top 10 producers of all-time Ye formerly known as Kanye West signed him to a joint deal with G.O.O.D. Music & Def Jam Recordings. The next 2 EPs G.O.O.D. Job, You Found Me & Runnin’ Rich helped spread plugg music to a mainstream audience despite both receiving mixed reception to the point where he would go his own way from Thersday onward. I should also mention that Valee additionally has 2 EPs with AYOCHILLMAN as the duo The TrAppiEst as well as 2 more with ChaseTheMoney as the duo VTM & 2 with Stan Lane as the duo Vlane. His full-length debut Virtuoso produced by Harry Fraud from last summer won me over on him & Partridge produced by Black Noi$e from this spring reached that same caliber & increasing my excitement for Grey Sky London.

“Why Not” is this sample drill opener that he & Niketech put together talking about being in Malibu & a bitch gotta catch him even though this ain’t the MLB whatsoever in addition to taking the backstreet whereas “Up Here” co-produced by Harrison takes a cloudier direction instrumentally asking the hoe what type of time she on since he has the same clock. “Hi Hater Maino” promises that he’ll break up with his girl if he finds out she’s broke & “Elbow” kinda has a plugg vibe to the beat from Eera talking about pulling a hoe for lean, but then “By da Way” ends the EP by refusing to chase a hoe & stopping at Chase Bank instead.

It’s incredible to think that the same guy Ye signed to G.O.O.D. Music for 15 minutes nearly 7 years ago by now would be going on a full redemption arc starting with Virtuoso, only for Partridge & now Great Sky London to expand on. Evilgiane’s cloudy, sample drill & plugg-influenced production is a welcoming change of pace compared to the experimental vibes that Black Noi$e brought to Partridge over 7 months ago & Valee’s own performances maintains the laser-focus that were prominent throughout the other 2 previously mentioned projects he’s given us in the past year & a half.

Score: 4/5

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Durkalini – “Church & Surf” review

This is the 2nd EP from Roanoke, Alabama rapper Durkalini. Introducing himself in the trap scene over a year ago off his last EP 4000 Degrees, he continued to push himself in the forefront by releasing a couple mixtapes Pyro the Pastor & Pilgrimage last fall. After taking a 9-month break, lini’s taking us to Church & Surf teaming up with the remaining producer members of the Surf Gang collective so they can help make it the most well-rounded offering in his discography

“Freaks Out” produced by Evilgiane, Eera & even Goner right before he departed the Surf Gang only recently starts the sermon on some plugg shit talking about being out all night when the freaks come out whereas “Rather Be Safe 2” works in an orchestral backdrop & hi-hats thanks to Harrison preferring to be safe than sorry. “Green Card” brings the plugg vibes back asking where the fuck your card is again while “Objection” has a fuzzier trap flare to talk about every day being the weekend.

The cloudier aesthetics of “Soho” are a nice touch referencing the titular shopping destination in New York south of Houston Street in Manhattan leading into Giane & Graham Perez providing “Alligator” with an atmospheric sound feeling like it’s a holy matrimony the way Durkalini be married to this shit. “Bottega Boots” has more of a rich trap groove flexing the designer footwear copped from Bottega Veneta, but then “Damn Huh” hooks up an organ & hi-hats knowing he gon’ race the pigs.

“Guinness” pushes towards the encore of Church & Surf talking about being unable to buy new guns since he’s a bandit, staying on the corner although he can’t give no directions, not stopping at red lights since he already got a ticket anyway & the fact that they don’t teach us shit in school still tryna give people in the streets a sentence while “Cartier Wires” finishes the EP on a peppy cloud rap note boasting that his pockets are loaded & broke bitches being the very last thing he’s thinking about.

Surf Gang’s been on a crazy production team run since Pasto Flocco, Polo Perks, Moh Baretta & pretty much all the other former vocalists in the crew departed to focus on their solo careers and Church & Surf joins Matt Ox’s 4th EP OXygen as the best of the 5 EPs they’ve laced in the last 10 months. The production’s more consistent than lini’s past material & the Alabama up-&-comer lets new listeners in as to who he is.

Score: 4/5

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Moh Baretta – “RE:VAMP” review

This is the 5th mixtape from New York rapper Moh Baretta formerly of the Surf Gang collective. Who has a total of 7 EPs under his belt in addition to the previous 4 mixtapes that he’s already put out, with the standouts being his 4th EP #ThisIsNotADrill & his 2nd mixtape #ThisIsNotADrill2. Few months ago, Moh & Xang linked up for a collaborative EP called Exile & is looking to prelude #ThisIsNotADrill3 by giving us RE:VAMP following his alleged departure from the group as a result of a falling out with Evilgiane.

“Double Down” starts with a piano-trap instrumental warning to not fuck with Moh’s patience guessing that he’s doing well since the fans are saying he’s going places whereas “Slay Night” hooks up a calming vocal sample to talk ablut still being out here chasing dreams. “Expedited” keeps it cloudy explaining they can’t go place-to-place with him now that he’s found his fire just before “Givenchy Jeans” incorporates a psychedelic trap flare to the beat saying you can find him trapping in the streets.

We return to a cloudier sound on “Different World” with Moh talking about starting from the bottom & tearing it up to the top while “2024” looks to run shit up taking the world on at this point only for him to break it down. I love the haunting piano loop throughout the 105 second-long “Tuesday” & even the line towards the end about a dude shooting himself in the foot just like Cheddar Bob did, but then “Sturdy Up” finishes the 1st half of the tape talking about the best way to fight the demons that chase you through the next being to stop & turn around.

“Wilt Chamberlain 2” starts the 2nd leg of RE:VAMP euphorically cautioning whoever watching the throne that he’s getting ready to take the crown letting the bread pile up in the midst of counting it down while “Relinquished” shows them how he does it going for a hazy trap approach instrumentally. The calmly produced “Roxy Pippen” refuses to trip over any of the bullshit because it’s already been written living life with motion as it comes & go while “Lead by the Blind” luxuriously lets him show y’all what it means.

Nearing the end of the tape, “IYKYK ‘Bout Me” hops over pianos & hi-hats heading outside to make this money while the moody “Long as You Get the Message” talks about needing to get it together after seeing someone leaving on a stretcher. “Can’t Look Back” fuses more keys & hi-hats sitting back & rolling an L sometimes as a result of a lot going on up in his head ahead of “Until the Sun” futuristically rounding out RE:VAMP by keeping it real.

From what I understand: The chances of Evilgiane being involved with #ThisIsNotADrill3 are looking unlikely since apparently the reason why Moh Baretta is no longer a member of the Surf Gang is because of a falling out between each other & it’s a shame to hear if that’s the case. Regarding the actual music itself here, Fakekickin helps give him one of the best tapes of his career. Moh’s still very much an undeniably entertaining performer & fk gives consistently strong production in the plugg subgenre with additional elements of cloud rap & dark plugg.

Score: 4/5

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Pasto Flocco – “#TWLG” review

This is the 6th EP from Queens rapper Pasto Flocco. Coming up as an associate of Lil Tecca, he’s seen quite the success off his own once branching out on his own by dropping his first 2 albums March Madness & Dreams 2 Reality along with a debut mixtape Surf to Kill (SGBSTK) as a member of the Surf Gang collective. Pasto rang in 2022 by dropping sophomore tape R.O.A.M. (Rich Off A Mic) under his newly founded Ghetto Luxury Entertainment & continued to build upon the sample drill sound on March Madness 2 in the spring & then Walking Glitch over the summer, so it was only a matter of time until he celebrated fall in the form of #TWLG only a day after his 19th birthday.

The intro is 2-minute kickoff to the EP with a futuristic instrumental admitting being in a certain mode as of late whereas “Off da Porch 2 takes a triumphant route picking up where the loosie “Off da Porch” left off as far as content goes. “mhm mhm” embraces a sample drill sound thanks to J6 talking about how that’s the exact noise he be making when a fuckboy tries to run his mouth to him prior to the airy yet booming “Joy Ride” letting y’all know he ain’t giving no 1s.

Meanwhile on “My Fault”, we have Pasto diving into cloudier turf so he can get unbottle his feelings towards a recent breakup while the song “Can’t Stop Now” brings a hazier vibe provided by Harrison talking about his refusal to quit. The penultimate track “Believe It” to things end with a remarkable sample drill-laced sequel to song that got Pasto where he is today: “Shawn M!”.

We’ve gotten a total of 4 projects from Pasto throughout the year & The Way Lyfe Goes has to be my personal favorite one of them all. Primarily because of the the fact that he throws it back to some of his older styles & mixes it with the sample drill sound that he fully embraced on the last EP he put out only a couple months back.

Score: 4/5

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Pasto Flocco – “Walking Glitch” review

Pasto Flocco is a 18 year old rapper from Queens, New York notable for being formerly being associated with Lil Tecca. However since their falling out, he’s seen quite the success off his own dropping his first 2 albums March Madness & Dreams 2 Reality along with a debut mixtape Surf to Kill (SGBSTK) as a member of the now defunct Surf Gang collective. This was all followed up back in the spring with his sophomore tape R.O.A.M. (Rich Off A Mic) but considering how much I liked March Madness 2 in the spring, I was still optimistic going into Pasto’s 5th EP over here nonetheless.

“3Hunna” is an rage-inducing opener talking about stacking them Benjamins whereas the “Murder She Wrote” remix takes the sample drill route calling out those who tried to play him like a pussy. “FA$TER THAN YOU!” works in some synths bragging that he’s getting richer faster than everyone, but then “All Blacc” shoots for a more futuristic aesthetic talking about how he prefers his outfit.

Meanwhile on “GLiTCH”, we have Pasto over a plugg/drill fusion describing going from nothing to rich while “GLiTCH 2” turns into intergalactic territory airing out those moving like hoes & bragging that GLE gets it poppin’. The song “Send Him 2 God” addresses his desire to run up $100M over a hypertrap beat while the penultimate track “HunnitBandzUp” keeps the rage going talking about stacking his bread. “Heartstop!” though ends the EP with some synths & bells saying this bitch is so hot, that she’ll give him a heart attack.

Since Walking Glitch’s here in it’s entirety, I’m gonna conclude this review by letting everyone know that it’s much of a consistent listen as March Madness 2 was a few months ago. Pasto’s hunger & knack for catchy songwriting only continues to grow stronger with the production continuing the tradition of evolving with each project that he puts out more.

Score: 3.5/5

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Pasto Flocco – “R.O.A.M. (Rich Off A Mic)” review

This is the 2nd mixtape from Queens rapper Pasto Flocco. Originally a Lil Tecca associate, he’s been seeing quite the success off his own with the Surf Gang collective since their falling out dropping his first 2 albums March Madness & Dreams 2 Reality as well as a debut mixtape Surf to Kill (SGBSTK). This was all followed up over the fall when Pasto put out his 3rd album Disturbing the Peace while opening up for Lucki on the Wake Up Lucki Tour but after dropping a couple singles earlier this month, Pasto is returning in the form of R.O.A.M. (Rich Off A Mic).

“Warning” is a cloudy opener produced by J6 talking about how he’s too drippy whereas “Wizard” follows it up on a more suspenseful note spitting that gun talk. “4dagram” works in some synthesizers from J6 & Pasto himself talking about having to call a whip after a bitch tried to play him just before “Bands Up (B.V.P.)” takes a more futuristic route to flex his wealth.

Meanwhile on “Life I Chose”, we have Pasto over an psychedelic instrumental from Cade talking about keeping a blick on him because the streets is cold leading into the cloudy “T.M.U. (Turn Me Up)” that Feardorian laced calling out his haters. “Better Clone Me (Lifestyle Chosen)” has a more euphoric sound venting about how he ain’t gotta pop shit ‘cause cats know it, but then “B.S.A. (Money or Fame)” returns to cloud rap turf encouraging to look back & see how much he’s changed since 2018.

“GLE Freestyle” goes into a pluggier direction talking about refusing to let a thot finesse him of his profits while “Mercy (Just Woke Up)” is absolutely perfect for moshpits during future shows in every way. “Out of the Mix” follows it up with an atmospheric ballad declaring himself an underground legend while the song “Buckz Up (ADHD)” comes through with some braggadocio even though CCC’s production ain’t it. The penultimate track “Melly” picks it up with a repetitive bop produced by Zaytoven & lastly, “30Bandz” is a chilled out closer talking about moving like a vampire.

I’ve been a fan of Pasto ever since my little brother Jake introduced me to his music a couple years back & I gotta say: This tape is a little disappointing. I like how’s he doing all this fast-tempo shit & a decent amount of his performances are infectious, but I wish it was a little fully fleshed out.

Score: 3/5

Pasto Flocco – “Disturbing the Peace” review

Pasto Flocco is a 17 year old rapper from Queens, New York notable for being formerly being associated with Lil Tecca. However since their falling out, he’s been seeing quite the success off his own with the Surf Gang collective dropping his first 2 albums March Madness & Dreams 2 Reality during the first leg of last year. This was followed up last winter with his debut mixtape Surf to Kill (SGBSTK) but in light of him opening up for the final show of Lucki’s most recent tour, Pasto is dropping his 3rd full-length outing in the midst of it all.

“Lieutenant” starts out the album with Pasto telling people to refer to himself as such over a mystical trap beat from Evilgiane whereas “L.A.T.O. (Laugh At The Ops)” is a spacey follow-up that J6 laced saying he’s got the world like the coronavirus. “7K on Rodeo” has a more uptempo instrumental talking about ballin’ just before the CashMoneyAP & YoungKio produced “Process” tells an unnamed person that he better be grateful that Pasto gave him a chance.

Meanwhile on “That’s Cap”, we have Pasto jumping on top of a moody trap instrumental to call a motherfucker out on his bluff leading into the woodwind-infused “NoFeds” remind listeners that he’s up next. “Emo” has a more eerie & cavernous sound saying he’s had swag since middle school, but “R2” is more of a 22Gz cut given that Pasto only handles the hook at the start & end of the cut.

“NBA80s” has a more nocturnal sound teaching listeners that cats start hating on you when they want your position while “Swisher” is a woozier cut saying his gang is looking for some for sauce. Following this, we have a gorgeous sequel to “Illiterate Luv” just before the pillowy “NBA Baby” talks about never being broke again.

“Penthouse” euphorically speaks on a feeling that he’s fallen in love with whereas “Boonk Gang” takes a bit of an electronic turn detailing the lavish lifestyle. The song “First Met Me” lusciously details a bitch he knew while the penultimate track tells us that his “Only Real Duty” is getting them racks with Harrison behind the boards. “Sandbox” then ends the album luxuriously declares that he ain’t worried about bullshit.

I think it should go without saying, but I truly believe that Pasto Flocco is much better than Tecca artistically & probably my favorite member of the Surf Gang crew. He’s a better songwriter, a more distinct vocalist & his production choices are a lot more detailed. Best believe he’ll continue to go places from hereon out

Score: 3.5/5