Mr. Y.U.G. – “UrAmerica” review

Mr. Y.U.G. is a 46 year old MC from Detroit, Michigan who would join his older brother The R.O.C. in becoming members of the Level Jumpers & The Howse respectively. He would eventually make his solo debut in the spring of 2009 with Weightin’, which he followed up with the sophomore effort Warning Shot as well as 18 Shots & Kill Flows. My favorite of his #48205Defcode came out in 2016 under Anybody Killa’s label Native World Inc. & ahead of next summer making it an entire decade since Thriller, he’s returning to music for his 7th studio LP.

“Introduce Yo Self” begins with an 85 second trap intro explaining that he’s gonna be talking on these tracks again because nobody’s paying him whereas “Keep Checking My Pockets (To Be Continued???)” gives off a more energetic vibe regardless of the uncredited feature taking up the 1st half of it. The title track goes for more of a boom bap vibe instrumentally & a hardcore approach to the lyrics just before “DOMoxic” dedicates itself to anyone who’s ever been in domestically toxic relationship over some guitars.

We have the “Eastside Shooter” freestyle ending the 1st half of Y.U.G.’s return getting on his gangsta rap shit topically over another boom bap beat while “Yesteryearz” kicks off the 2nd leg with a highlight telling us the origin story of Ragz dating back to 1989. “Yicked” continues talking about having people snitching on his name leading into “Can’t Feel My Face” embracing a jazzier sound for all the stoners out there who like to get high.

“Party Life” begins to wind down the final act of UnAmerica takes it back to the boom bap sound with an eerie twist talking about him hitting the club on a Tuesday night & once “Miss at U” featuring Carli “La Moure” hits us with what’s mainly a spoken word piece essentially recapping Mr. Y.U.G.’s entire life story additionally addressing the people who want to bring the bad side out of him out again when no one wants it, “MC Stick Faygo Flow / Knock Dat Shit Off” sends off the full-length with an interesting 2-parter.

Only a month after The Raps On Contact’s 4th album No Direction under Majik Ninja Entertainment made his return almost a decade after Digitial Voodoo excluding the 2019 extended play Monsters Ain’t Real & fellow Native World alumni Bake Lo refining himself with Spirals, The R.O.C.’s younger brother M.oney R.olls Y.oung U.known G.angsta’s own comeback could very well be a personal one considering how much heavy inspiration it takes from his autistic 4 year old son landing right behind #48205Defcode & is said to already be working on another album of his own by the end of the year called Park of Lyrics. Some criticisms I have being the feature on the 2nd track nor any of the producers being credited & the AI artwork.

Score: 3.5/5

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The R.O.C. – “No Direction” review

Detroit horrorcore veteran The R.O.C. finally back with his 4th LP. Getting his start as a member of the House of Krazees with Jamie Madrox & Monoxide, he later hooked up with Skrapz to put out 1 last album under the HOK name before starting a duo of their own called HaLFBrEEd when the Insane Clown Posse signed Twiztid to Psychopathic Records. Although they would only release 1 official full-length under the HaLFBrEEd name titled Kontamination, it would go on to become a horrorcore classic. Welcome to the Darkside came out under Psychopathic’s now defunct Hatchet House sub-label & dropped Digital Voodoo under Majik Ninja Entertainment almost a decade later. Last we heard from him was Monsters Ain’t Real in late 2019 & returns with No Direction.

After the “Space” intro, the self-produced “It Ain’t My Business” explosively marks his return advising that your lips will follow suit if one swallows their tongue whereas “My Fantasy” asks if he’s the only one this woman prefers & her reoccurring when he runs. “Best Decision” featuring Jamie Madrox finds the 2 linking up so they can voice what they consider to be the greatest choices they’ve never made over a groovy beat leading into “Around We Go” talking about getting up outta here right now.

Monoxide appears on “Superpower” so they can energetically discuss how being themselves is their extraordinary ability just before “I’m In Love With You” tries to put the right together to express his affection towards this person knowing exactly the way he feels. “Broadcast System” goes for a futuristic boom bap vibe talking about this being nowhere close to the end of his story prior to “2084” by Zodiac MPrint consciously issues the reminder that Big Brother’s watching us all.

“Finish Strong” nears the conclusion of No Direction hopping over a grim instrumental so he can talk about ending things on as great of a note as possible while “Bridges” leads towards a gospel influenced sound & taking a spiritual approach to his songwriting. The closing track “New You” finishes things up charismatically bringing nothing but good vibes to the table celebrating improved versions of themselves on top of a funky boom bap beat.

This guy is amongst the most underappreciated artists in all of Detroit & one of the greatest human beings I’ve ever met, so I had to pull up to the listening party last Friday afternoon at the Astronomicon 9 pre-party prior to meeting the current MLW World Heavyweight Champion Killer Kross & would put No Direction right behind Digital Voodoo as The R.O.C.’s 2nd best album since Welcome to the Darkside & Monsters Ain’t Real were both extended plays. All 3 of his Samhein Witch Killaz brethren body their verses & it’s amazing to hear how far he’s come since Rollin’ with Strength.

Score: 4/5

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The R.O.C. – “Monsters Ain’t Real” review

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The R.O.C. is a horrorcore veteran from Detroit, Michigan who got his start as a member of the House of Krazees with Jamie Madrox & Monoxide. When the latter 2 went onto form the duo Twiztid & sign with Psychopathic Records, The R.O.C. hooked up with Skrapz to put out 1 last album under the HOK name before starting a duo of their own called HaLFBrEEd. Although they would only release 1 official album under the HaLFBrEEd name titled Kontamination, it would go on to become a horrorcore classic. Then in 2008, he signed to Psychopathic’s now defunct Hatchet House sub-label & put out his Welcome to the Darkside EP before “retiring” the following year. Eventually, The R.O.C. returned to making music in 2012 & signed to Majik Ninja Entertainment in 2014. His long awaited 3rd album Digital Voodoo finally saw the light of day in 2017 & would go down as his magnum opus in my personal opinion but 2 & a half years later, the Astronomicon mainstay is treating fans with his 6th EP.

After the “Have Some” intro, the first song “From Beneath” finds The R.O.C. comparing himself to a demon to over an orchestral trap beat. The track “A Dream” talks about being in a nightmare over a frightening instrumental from Eric Davie while the song “The Chase” talks about being hunted down over a demented instrumental. And then before the “Next Time” outro, the title track paints a vivid picture of insanity over an electronic-tinged instrumental.

If we’re getting a new full-length album from The R.O.C. in 2020, then this is a fantastic appetizer for the main course because he’s really been putting it down for the 313 for a long ass time yet doesn’t get the props he deserves. He’s always been the most underrated of MNE & this is no exception of proving that from his lyricism getting better with time to his ever-so chilling production skills. Really looking forward to a follow-up to Digital Voodoo whenever that time comes.

Score: 4/5