Queens, New York emcee Vega7 the Ronin recruiting København, Hovedstaden, Denmark producer Machaha to produce his debut EP. Known for his multisyllabic rhymes & dense wordplay, Detroit veteran Ty Farris has seen fit to sign Vega7 to his rising indie label Bars Over B.S. Records to make a significantly bigger splash within the underground hip hop scene, treading along The Lead Lined Wall to make a broader introduction to everyone who might not be familiar with him yet since he’s never had an official body of work until now.

“Sage Mode” begins by referencing former 7-time WWE world champion, 3-time WWE tag team champion, 5-time WWE United States Champion, 2-time WWE Intercontinental Champion & 2-time WWE Hall of Famer Bret Hart over a drumless instrumental whereas “Dakota Arms” takes a bit of an eerier boom bap turn to the beat talking about his lyricism being vulgar & the script being full of sulfur. 

As for “Water Style” featuring Ja’king the Divine, we have both parties maintaining the hardcore vibes altogether showcasing their prowesses while “The Lost Knife of a Hunter” includes a reference to WWE Hall of Famer & former WWE Tag Team Champion Tony Atlas who mentored current AEW coach/commentator as well as fellow WWE Hall of Famer & 2-time WWE world champion holding the original World Heavyweight Championship & the ECW World Heavyweight Championship Mark Henry.

“Food & Medicine” featuring MTS Music strips the drums in favor of a prominent vocal sample showing off clever wordplay with the bar centered around Cordae’s breakout single “Old N****s” leading into “PAL Code” showing respect to former SMW Tag Team Champion & WWE Tag Team Champion Al Snow. “Akai Pads” references former NXT Women’s Champion, 6-time WWE women’s world champion & 2-time WWE Women’s Tag Team Champion Mercedes Moné & the final song “GZA Chew Sticks” featuring Book$ ahead of the “Requiem” outro includes a bar referring to Bubbles from the Warner Bros.-owned HBO series The Wire.

The amount of buzz that this guy’s been generating in the underground up until this point makes it all worth it with one of the greatest hip hop EPs that I’ve heard in 2021 & establishes Veg7 the Ronin as a force to be reckoned with in the underground for years to come. Machacha’s production prominently goes for towards a minimalistically dark & drumless sound that near-perfectly helps enhance the display of Vega7’s penmanship showing off his technicality & wordplay abilities aside from a few guests showing up to add their own flavor to the table even if Ja’king delivers the hardest feature of the 3 in my respectfully personal opinion.

Score: 4.5/5

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