Kool G Rap – “Last of a Dying Breed” review

This is the 6th full-length album from Queens icon Kool G Rap. Coming up as a member of the Juice Crew collective & dropping 3 classic albums alongside DJ Polo from 1989-1992, he would eventually go on to build a solo career for himself in the fall of ‘95 beginning with 4, 5, 6. Last we heard from G Rap was in the summer of 2017 when he enlisted Canadian producer MoSS behind the boards for Return of the Don, but has seen fit to re-emerge a little over 5 years later in the form of Last of a Dying Breed.

“Dying Breed” is a horn/boom bap opener with G Rap talking about how there ain’t many like him left this day in age whereas “Scared Money” works in some synthesizers to talk about not fearing a goddamn soul. Royal Flush & Vado tag along for the dusty piano-laced “Never Be” bragging that they be sippin’ on the finest champagnes just before Big Daddy Kane comes into the picture for the glistening “Fly ‘Till I Die” talking about being those motherfuckers until they both stop breathing.

Meanwhile on “Critical”, we have NEMS & the Genius of Rap coming together on top of some keys welcoming you to the dark side leading into the AZ/38 Spezh-assisted “Born Hustler” detailing the mafiosi lifestyle. “Official” hooks up some organs talking about being too certified with some jazzy undertones throughout the book, but then “Donald Goines” embraces a more triumphant sound taking you in as to how them boys be cooking.

The song “Million Reasons” with Al Skratch finds the 2 over a trap instrumental with an eerie vocal sample talking about being off the deep end while the penultimate track “Winning Hand” lets y’all know who you dealing with & the Lil Dee verse has gotta be the weakest feature on the album respectfully. “Born n Raised” with Grandmaster Caz & Doo Wop however ends things with an old school-flavored closer representing New York proudly.

Return of a Don was a great comeback for G Rap considering the mediocrity Riches, Royalty, Respect when it came out in the spring of 2011 & he goes back-to-back with Last of a Dying Breed here. A couple lackluster features here & there, but Domingo’s production is on par with MoSS’ with one of the greatest MCs in the history of our culture Giancana sounding like he has a fire under his ass lyrically.

Score: 4/5

@legendswill_never_die on Instagram for the best music reviews weekly!

Necro – “The Notorious Goriest” review

Necro is a 42 year old rapper & producer from Brooklyn, New York who started out playing in a death metal band called Injustice in 1987 with his older brother Ill Bill. He then transitioned over into hip hop the following year after being inspired by Bill & both have made quite the names for themselves in the underground. Especially with classics like Gory Days, The Pre-Fix for Death, the self-titled Circle of Tyrants album, What’s Wrong with Bill? & The Hour of Reprisal just to name a few. But at the beginning of the decade, they began distancing themselves from each other with Bill regularly putting out music under his own name as well as with La Coka Nostra. Necro on the other hand has been pretty quiet with the exceptions of his 2010 album Die!, his Murder Murder Kill Kill EP, a handful of singles & a criminally underrated slept-on collab album with the legendary Kool G Rap under the name The Godfathers. However, he’s now making his full comeback with his 7th full-length album.

After the intro, we go into the first song “Murder Obscene”. Here, Necro spits his signature death bars over a gloomy boom bap beat. After the “H.N.A. (Head Neck Apartheid)” prelude, we go into the actual song with the same name. Where Necro spits more clever murder bars over a spacious boom bap beat. The track “My Precious” brags about his rapping skills over an ominous instrumental with a killer guitar riff during the hook while the song “Know Con-Science” returns to the witty yet filthy lyricism over a boom bap beat with a sinister piano lead. After the “W.T.W.C.T. (What’s This World Coming To?)” prelude, we go into the actual song with the same name. The hook is kinda annoying, but the soul sample is a nice touch & Necro’s confrontational lyricism suits it pretty well.

The track “Deaded” compares himself to Michael Myers over a boom bap beat with some sinister strings while the song “Caught Up!” talks about how violent he is over a punchy beat with some Halloween-esque bells. “The Love & Terror Cult” tells his competition to step back over a boom bap beat with some somber piano chords while the song “Party Killer” gets raunchy over an electro instrumental. The title track cleverly describes his disgusting antics over an eerie beat while the song “Gat O’ 9 Tales” is filled with battle bars over an instrumental with a prominent piano lead & a beautiful soul sample during the hook.

After the prelude to “The Master of Ruckus”, we go into the actual song with the same name. Here, Necro talks about killing you when you’re sleeping over a boom bap beat with a funky bass-line. The track “Grave Ol World” goes back to the raunchiness over a symphonic beat while “The Stories of the Almost Dead” vividly describes the protagonist’s life of crime over another boom bap beat with a piano lead & soul sample for the hook. And before things end off with the outro, the final song “The Dawn of a Dead Day” goes back to taking aim at his competition over a beat inspired by a blaxpoitation film.

I was wondering if Necro would ever drop an album again, but this is a strong comeback for him. Despite the lack of features & the song preludes bogging it down, Necro continues to prove that he’s one of the best producers that the underground has to offer with soundscapes on here being darker than ever & his horrorcore lyricism being as creative as it’s been in the past.

Score: 4/5

Kool G Rap – “Return of the Don” review

With the 6 year anniversary of his last album Riches, Royalty, Respect passing by just a few days before it’s release, former Juice Crew member Kool G Rap is finally returning with his 5th full-length album & he has enlisted MoSS to produce it in it’s entirety. The album opens up with the title track, where G Rap reminds us why he’s one of the illest lyricists ever over a grimy ass beat. However, my only issue with this track is that it was way too short. The next track “Mack Lean” has a really smooth flute sample throughout & while I do love how G Rap flows over it, I think AG da Coroner’s verse compliments G Rap’s better than Fred the Godson’s did. Mainly because of how husky his voice is. The following song “Criminal Outfit” with N.O.R.E. sees the 2 talking about raising the slums up & throwing a chick named Sharon inside an Uber over a really cool piano sample but just like with the title track, I feel like the song is way too short. The song “Wise Guys” has a fantastic scratch hook from Statik Selektah along with a soul sample throughout & even though Freeway’s verse is nice, Lil’ Fame’s fits into the track a lot more perfectly. The track “Out for That Life” is a braggadocious song with some somberly tension building horns & it was only right for him to get a verse from Raekwon on here. The track “Time’s Up” has a nice organ sample & the rhyme schemes are just bananas from start to finish. Not just that, but it actually sounds finished in contrast to the title track. The song “Capitol Hill” with Cormega & Sheek Louch sees the 3 delivering vivid street bars & the beat on here sounds purely evil. The song “Running” with Saigon & Termanology talks about following protocol no matter how long they’ve been around & I love how uplifting the instrumental is. The song “World’s Mine” may have a decent hook, but G Rap’s verse in the middle of the song along with the guest verses from KXNG CROOKED & Willie the Kid at the beginning & the end respectively make up for it. Especially with how you can hear the passionate emotion in KXNG CROOKED’s voice throughout the duration of his verse. The penultimate track “Popped Off” with Ransom & the late Sean Price has some aggressive verses & the instrumental fits them like a glove, but’s really the verses from G Rap & Sean that make the track so hardcore. The album then closes out with the appropriately titled “Rest In Peace”, where Kool G Rap’s talking about feeling like the black Axl Rose & how the strong never fade over a bass guitar with a little bit of an electric guitar too. Also can’t forget that while Shady Records’ most recent signees Hall ‘N Nash are trading bars back & forth with each other during the last minute of the song, you can just tell that their verse together was heavily influenced by G Rap & I don’t mean that in a bad way at all. To me, the appropriately titled Return of the Don is a much needed & near perfect one. Yeah I wish that some of the songs could’ve been stretched out a little bit longer & there’s a lot of features too, but I believe most of the guest verses served their purpose. On top of that, Kool G Rap’s pen game is as strong as ever & MoSS’ production is WAY more rugged & hard hitting than the production on Riches, Royalty, Respect was. Despite the small flaws, I think this is a serious contender for Album of the Year

Score: 4.5/5