Rock – “Ether Rocks” review

Rock is a 46 year old MC from Brooklyn, New York notable for being a member of the Boot Camp Clik collective & 1/2 of the duo Heltah Skeltah alongside the late Sean Price. He & Ruck were also 2/5 of The Fab 5 with O.G.C. despite the fact that they never put out a full-length debut as a quintet. The Rockness Monsta has also given us a couple mixtapes as well as a full-length debut & an EP, the latter of which just came out this past spring. But for his sophomore effort right here, he’s enlisting Manhattan producer Ron Browz behind the boards for the entire thing.

“Lettuce & Cabbage” is a rugged boom bap opener with Rock attacking anyone who dares to step up to him whereas “Pay Me” works in a more symphonic trap instrumental talking about being the best. “Flamboyant” returns to the boom bap to declare his gun game as such leading into Method Man tagging along for the cacophonous trap banger “Beastie Boyz” talking about being beasts in their own rights.

Meanwhile on “Billy Joel”, we have Rock on top of another orchestral trap beat much like “Pay Me” brushing off the negative shit that they try to throw his way just before Bo Blackk & Milly D.O.D. come into the picture for “Feast” which I like the suspenseful production & the subject matter about being different, but the features just don’t do it for me personally with all respect. “Got It Movin’” blends some dramatic strings with hi-hats & snares acknowledging that he makes it look easy, but then “Faith” with The Last American B-Boy & Ron dives into jazzy yet soulful boom bap turf talking about not wanting smoke with them.

“Shark Tank” with Ruste Juxx & Steele returns to a more symphonic trap sound yet again flexing their lyricism while the song “Hood Up” brings it back to soulful territory talking about how you should always rep where you came from no matter where you shine. The penultimate track “Squad” with The Last American B-Boy embraces a dustier vibe to rep their crew & “The Answer” sends the album off with a cheerful trap hit with the lyrics coming from a more introspective place.

Of the 2 solo albums that Rock has given us in the last 5 years, Ether Rocks just might be my new favorite of the pair thus far. He sounds passionate & proves that he can still very much hold it down on his own this deep in his career, but a lot of the trap stuff that Ron Browz whips up sounds samey to me. That being said, the boom bap beats that he delivers suit the Rockness Monsta’s style much better.

Score: 3.5/5

@legendswill_never_die on Instagram for the best music reviews weekly!

Sean Price – “86 Witness” review

Sean Price was a legendary MC from New York City who came up as a member of the Boot Camp Clik alongside Heltah Skeltah & The Fab 5. He released 3 classic solo albums before unexpectedly passing away in 2015 but now, Small Professor has decided to release Sean’s recently unearthed posthumous sophomore album & 5th album overall.

The album kicks off with “Bear Witness”, which is mostly a decent turntablism cut referencing WWE Hall of Famer William Perry. The next track is the original Heltah Skeltah mix of “Refrigerator P!” that appeared on Sean’s 2017 posthumous debut Imperius Rex while the song “LaToya Jackson” with Quelle Chris sees the 2 boasting about their rapping prowesses over an grimy boom bap beat.

The track “Midnight Rounds” with Elucid & Castle is loaded with battle bars over a militant beat & after the “P’s Theme” interlude, we go into the song “John Gotti”. Here, P teams up with AG da Coroner as well as Guilty Simpson & Your Old Droog to get murderous over an eerie beat.

The track “Think About It” sounds like it easily could’ve been on his latest Illa Ghee collab EP Metal Detectors & then the final original cut “Word to Mother” talks about how he’s the greatest over some haunting strings. This is followed by remixes of “John Gotti” & “Refrigerator P!”, which don’t really do much for me in all honesty.

Even though this is more like an EP to me, it is a solid listen. There are a few handful of redundant cuts on here, but most of this half hour experience is filled with the gritty lyricism & raw production that you’d usually expect from P.

Score: 3.5/5

Sean Price – “Imperius Rex” review

On the 2 year anniversary of Sean Price’s unfortunate death, Duck Down Music Inc. has decided to release his 1st posthumous album but 4th overall. The album opens up with the title track, where P starts off talking about having sex with his now-widow Bernadette but abruptly stops a few seconds in to speak that “monkey shit”. Very similar to the intro of “Tonight’s da Night” by Redman, but it’s just as hilarious. The Alchemist’s production has these dramatic strings throughout that give the track an eerie vibe to it. The next song “Dead or Alive” sees Sean getting braggadocious about his rapping prowess over a hard hitting beat from 4th Disciple & the hook from Bernadette was actually interesting. The track “Definition of God” then informs the listener about how there’s no one higher than him & Stu Bangas’ production has these eerie synths & piano keys throughout that’re really great. The song. “Ape in His Apex” with his protégé Ruste Juxx sees the 2 aggressively rapping about shooting/stabbing you & how both of them are in their apexes (hence the title) over an organ with some hard hitting drums. The track “Apartheid” has an eerie beat with a fitting Jamaican vocal sample & he gets with fellow Boot Camp Clik members Buckshot & Steele for some unapologetically hardcore degrading. The song “Lord Have Mercy” has this twangy guitar & a sped-up vocal sample throughout & while it’s not as hard hitting as the other instrumentals on the album, it’s still pretty great. Also can’t forget the guest verses from both Rim P & Vic Spencer are just as rough as the opening one from Sean. The track “Negus” with MF DOOM talks about “being a nigga” over an creepy sounding guitar & even though both MCs did their thing on here, I think DOOM’s verse was harder than Sean’s. The song “Church Bells” has a great hook from Junior Reid & the gloomy production enhances Sean’s street bars to make it sound purely evil. The track “The 3 Lyrical P’s” with Prodigy (Rest In Peace) & Styles P has this instrumental from Fraud that kinda has an electronic vibe to it & given the title, the lyricism makes the track live up to it perfectly. After Sean impersonating Funkmaster Flex for a minute & a half on the “Not97” skit, we are then led into the next track “Refrigerator P!”. Here, Sean’s talking about scaring haters & the instrumental has a solid rap rock sound to it. The song “Prisoner” addresses all MCs from the real to the wack over a somber instrumental from Marco Polo & the guest verse from Freeway midway through fits in a lot better than I actually expected it to. The song “Clans & Cliks” is a collaborative posse cut with 3 members of the Boot Camp Clik (Smif-n-Wessun & Sean’s former Heltah Skeltah cohort Rock) & 3 members of the almighty Wu-Tang Clan (Raekwon, Method Man & Inspectah Deck) over a gritty instrumental from Nottz & I can say it truly is a hardcore hip hop fan’s wet dream. The track “Resident Evil” is pretty much gun talk when it comes to the content, but the production truly enhances the ruggedness of it. The penultimate track “Rap Professor” tells the listener to “acknowledge the scholarship” & how he makes “nice rap shit” over a funky bass guitar provided by DJ Skizz. The album closes out with “Price Family”, where Sean talks about fucking shit up & slapping ear rings off a woman over a funky boom bap beat. Hell, the verse from Bernadette about wack rappers needing to get off Sean’s dick & to shut the fuck up were pretty cool as well. Can’t forget how flawless they compliment each other from the leading up into Bernadette’s verse to them nothing rapping together for a few seconds before a sung outdo over some piano keys. While posthumous albums can be hit or miss for me, this one was a home run. The bars are head, the features are all on point, it’s well produced & overall well put together. Not sure if this is the last Sean Price album we’ll ever get but if it is, then he went out with a bang. Rest In Peace to one of the most underrated to ever do it

Score: 4.5/5