San Francisco, California emcee Ramirez following up From tha Guttah to tha Grave by surprise releasing The Warlock & The Gorilla as his 12th EP. Coming up in 2014 as a longtime affiliate of the $uicideboy$, he would go on to co-found to the New Orleans-based indie label G*59 Record$ with them & build himself as an artist by dropping 8 mixtapes, his last 10 EPs & 4 full-lengths in the span of nearly a decade. Tha Playa$ Manual was his best LP yet with it’s g-funk production from Rocci & The Tragedy of a Clown was a good comeback from a year & a half ago, From tha Guttah to tha Grave back in March was good & this new one had me especially intrigued since he said it was to hold us off until his upcoming 5th album Tha Playa$ Manual II.

After the titular intro, the first song “Stackin’ Ends” featuring Soulzay has a slick Memphis vibe instrumentally to officially begin letting us know that’s exactly what both of them be doing whereas the cloudy trap banger “Carti Frames” continues forward talking about cold blooded pimpin’ going through his veins. “Window” featuring Shakewell has an eerier atmosphere to beat almost like it’s something out of a horror flick flexing their gangsta ties & “The Depths” hellishly talks about looking to blast someone in the deepest pits with the shotty.

“Crocodile Skin” builds the concept around the infamous “interior crocodile alligator” line from King Chip of The Almighty GloryUS blending a soul sample with hi-hats while the jazz/trap hybrid on “Medusa Packs” blew me away getting returning to his pimpin’ shit. “Casket Dreamz” featuring Pouya talks only having their brothers over a solemn trap instrumental leading into the west coast-flavored “International Waters” featuring Jay Worthy find the 2 gettin’ fly. “It Ain’t My Fault” featuring Shakewell lastly ends with a homage to Silkk the Shocker’s biggest hit.

In what would turn out to be Ramirez’ final release on G*59, The Warlock & The Gorilla surpasses From tha Guttah to tha Grave as the best of the 2 EPs that he’s put out this year alone. Stronger feature list, the production expanding beyond from trap as well as g-funk, the Memphis scene, cloud rap & jazz rap & the Lil Homewrecker delivering performances that go considerably harder.

Score: 3.5/5

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