London, England, United Kingdom emcee/producer Onoe Caponoe continuing summer with his 6th LP. Introducing himself in the early 2010s off his debut mixtape Central Control as well as Willows Midnight Gallery & Holy Mountain, it wasn’t until The Staircase to Nowhere caught the attention of High Focus Records & made his full-length debut for the label with Voices from Planet Cattele during my senior year of high school. Spells from the Cyclops would continue Onoe’s evolution & Surf or Die has become the most celebrated work of his yet as did Concrete Fantasia succeeding Invisible War, returning a year & a half later shedding Tears of the Dragon.

“Jane Flower” featuring Lofty305 begins with this delicate trap instrumental talking about a woman who has both of their minds constantly spinning whereas “Going Sweet” featuring Ledbyher works in this cloudy backdrop & a guitar so both of can describe the strength of this love they have. “Summer of Love” gives off a chipmunk soul vibe creepin’ in parks during the evening on some slayer shit while the trap-flavored “Red Riding Hood” after the “Deadly Nightside” interlude talks about trying to get away from things lately.

We get some 808s & hypnotic sample during “The Wilderness” until a beat switch telling a woman he’s no longer seeing that he hope she never forgets him leading into the boisterous trap heater “Fright Night” ending the first half of Tears of the Dragon letting off flows like a submachine gun. “Peanut Butter” blends hi-hats & a vocal flip flexing that his words can make bones shatter while the Memphis influenced “Vampire Date” gets in his storytelling bag lyrically, vividly describing a dating experience with a female vampire.

“Angel” embraces a bluesier atmosphere talking about having his back against the wall because of a phone call he had received but after Eter & L-Zee Roselli appear for the hollowly produced “Psycho Planet” averagely describing a world fu of lunatics running around it, “Tamagotchi Girl” experiments with a bubbly plugg flare instrumentally for an ode to the women who still happen to enjoy the たまごっち brand of handheld digital pets.

Continuing to push further towards Tears of the Dragon’s final moments, the song “$1M Cat” recaptures the Memphis rap atmosphere asking if his ex still thinks of him regularly while “Fur Rug” incorporates some soulful sampling chops explaining that he’s trying to hold on to this person, but the problem with that being he legitimately can’t. “Funky Butterfly” however finishes the album jumping over a piano-heavy beat talking about being in a state of chrysalis.

The high praise I gave Surf or Die & Concrete Fantasia would already make it pretty clear that I consider Onoe Caponoe to be one of High Focus’ greatest signings in recent memory for his experimentally abstract style. That said: Tears of the Dragon feel like the weakest entry of his entire discography. It has nothing to do with the production taking secondary influences from trap, cloud rap, tread, Memphis rap & plugg aren’t bad either. My thing with it is that he doesn’t sound inspired as the predecessor did when 2023 began.

Score: 4/5

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