Mikahl Lawless – “Cult” review

Here we have the 5th EP from York, Pennsylvania rapper Mikahl Lawless. Introducing himself in the summer of 2019 off his debut EP Pen to Paper, he would go on to follow it up with Overture for the Ill & Broken Hearted as well as 13 & Kisses to Nowhere until Cody Manson made him a member of his Trife Life collective. Cody eventually introduced Mikahl to Scum, impressing The Gorefather enough to give him his own deal with Lyrikal Snuff Productionz & introduce himself as part of the roster on Gangri-La. Commemorating the 1-year anniversary of The Snuff Gremlin later this weekend, he’s ending LSP’s year by releasing Cult.

“Ash” starts with a trap metal intro talking about what‘s left of him being blackened whereas “Cold Snow” blends this cloudy backdrop & live drumming telling how he’s feeling on the inside. “Ghost” reaches the halfway point by throwing it back to LINKIN PARK’s earlier output while the title track embraces a synth-pop vibe singing to bleed out beside him. “Prey” shifts back in nu metal turf comparing himself amongst the hunted & the same can be said regarding the outro “In Absence”, singing about him wishing he found nothing.

Many of the previews sounded nothing like Gangri-La & The Snuff Gremlin whatsoever, which gave me the impression of Mikahl Lawless venturing out artistically throughout the duration of Cult & he does it well enough to the point where I can confidently say that it could be the boldest musical statement he’s ever made. The production’s more versatile exploring trap metal, nu metal & synthpop in addition to the horrorcore lyrics being primarily sung as opposed to rapped.

Score: 4/5

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Mikahl Lawless – “The Snuff Gremlin” review

This is the sophomore effort from York, Pennsylvania rapper Mikahl Lawless. Signing to Lyrikal Snuff Productionz a couple years ago, he made his full-length debut a few months later with Gangri-La & shortly after teamed up with MC Welchs for a collaborative EP called Carnevil. However to celebrate with the 2 year anniversary of his record deal, it makes absolute since for Mikahl to celebrate by unleashing The Snuff Gremlin on Friday the 13th & have it coincide with labelmate Chuckklez’ own sophomore effort Horrors from the Unstable fully produced by DJ Ill Sprite.

“Maybe Another Life” is this trap intro flexing that everyone wants a piece of the demonic spirit within him & losing all reason whereas “No Angel” talks about embracing his demons & asking for strength in the flames he’s feeling. “Hit the Deck” fuses trap & gangsta rap advising to drop to the ground as he lets shots ring out from his heater that is until “Let It Go” embraces the trap metal sound hoping y’all see the other side after tonight.

Scum joins Mikahl on “When I Think About It” coming clean that it excites them when thinking of some day reading of a couple people that they wish death on getting what’s coming to them just before the dejecting “Finding Distance” admits that he doesn’t feel like people want to get to know him. The anthemic title track aggressively represents his crew for 2 & a half minutes leading into the sample-driven “After Everything” saying that if he has to take a soul, he’ll go there.

“Kreepin’” brings back the trap metal vibes assuring that you’ll be purified through the flames of Hell itself & catchin’ him lurkin’ through his hood while “Relationship A.D.” takes 125 seconds to talk about his murderous tendencies. “Dead” mixes elements of rage & horrorcore in an interesting way teaching that sometimes blood has to be spilled to find your footing while “My Haunted House” talks about The Wraith carrying him from all his pain.

The song “Smiley” pushes further towards the encore of The Snuff Gremlin by giving everyone a dose of the very psychosis that he so happens to suffer from while the cloudy penultimate track “Low” talks about being persecuted like no other when he used to represent the confederate flag & Insane Clown Posse had a highlight on their debut album Carnival of Carnage called “Fuck Your Rebel Flag”, but I digress & mean absolutely no disrespect by mentioning that. The closer however “Bleed Out” ends on a trap metal note justifying his demons.

Some in the underground wicked shit scene are reasonably quick to dismiss Mikahl as a juff for the whole rebel flag thing & even putting that aside, I was still open-minded enough to go into The Snuff Gremlin expecting to get a better understanding of who he is artistically & I can say that there are improvements over his debut. The production’s more versatile whether it be trap, trap metal, cloud rap & a hint of rage to suit the horrorcore & gangsta rap lyricism that the east coast artist delivers.

Score: 3.5/5

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Cody Manson – “Double Cups & Demons” review

Cleveland, Ohio emcee Cody Manson is back for his 3rd LP. For the last few years now, he’s been on one Hell of a meteoric rise in the underground whether it be him signing to Lyrikal Snuff Productionz or dropping his full-length debut Psychoactive on Christmas Day a few years back to widespread acclaim & the sophomore effort E=MC Skelter proved to be his very own classic. Cody unfortunately fell out with Ouija Macc at the beginning of 2024 which caused some 17%ers to turn their back on him immediately, but I still wanted to give Double Cups & Demons a shot since he remains a standout on the LSP roster.

The title track featuring Keith Stoned starts with chimes & hi-hats to tell us the only 2 things they’ve been seeing as of late whereas “Troublesome” also featuring Keith Stoned offers another trap vibe with a dark atmosphere showing off their disruptive tendencies. “They Love to Hate Me” produced by Stir Crazy stands as a highlight for me personally with it’s trap metal instrumental addressing the hate he’s been getting this year just before “27 Club” featuring Jamie Madrox & Keith Stoned hops over this off-the-wall beat from $crim of the $uicideboy$ referencing the list of celebrities who’ve died at 27 although Jamie out-rapped Keith in my opinion.

“Feel Like Dying” featuring a standout feature for Majik Ninja Entertainment’s head of graphic design Insane E & of course Keith Stoned finds the trio over dull trap production explaining that they themselves feel like they’re on the verge of death even though they kinda enjoy it on top of Insane E providing another high quality guest appearance much like Jamie’s while the solemn “100K” proves to be another standout giving a middle finger to friends preferably tryna touch that exact amount of money instead prior to the sinister trap joint “Shooters” featuring fellow LSP artist Claas showing off their mob ties.

Meanwhile on “Never Too Much”, we have Cody talking about doing too much & never enough giving off this bassy trap approach instrumentally leading into the introspective “All My Life” with it’s blissful musical backdrop that Charlie Beans provides striving when people have hated on him forever. “Limitless” featuring Keith Stoned radiates a dreary trap tone to the beat feeling like both of them are boundless while “Blood Money” featuring Bonez Dubb, Doc Gruesome, Gorilla Pimp & Keith Stoned serves as a decent 5 minute posse cut.

Danny Diablo joins Cody for the Memphis flavored “F.A.B. (Fuck a Bitch)” setting out to set the worlds of their detractors on fire completely while “Born Evil” featuring Keith Stoned clashes these guitars & hi-hats together staying high when they’re alone regardless if it doesn’t help them at all. “Scars” fuses grunge with trap encouraging everyone listening to remember exactly who the fuck you ate & “Sulfur” bombastically ends the LP politicking with the demons in his basement.

I’ve always shown love & support to both Cody Manson & Ouija Macc, so it’s a shame that neither of them are on good terms. Now do I think Double Demons & Demons is the best album that Cody’s ever done? No, I still very much have E=MC Skelter on top of the throne as far as that conversation goes. That said, it’s still not a bad listen. The features are hit or miss, the sounds he’s experimenting with are potently detailed & the Trife Life general’s letting off the steam that’s building up throughout 2024.

Score: 3.5/5

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Mikahl Lawless – “Gangri-La” review

York, Pennsylvania rapper Mikahl Lawless dropping his debut album under Lyrikal Snuff Productionz. Introducing himself in the summer of 2019 off his debut EP Pen to Paper, he would go on to follow it up with Overture for the Ill & Broken Hearted as well as 13 & Kisses to Nowhere until Cody Manson made him a member of his Trife Life collective. Cody eventually introduced Mikahl to Scum, impressing The Gorefather enough to give him an LSP deal of his very own & introduce himself as part of the roster on Gangri-La.

“Stripped” begins with a trap instrumental demanding to put the money in the bag whereas “Snuff the Light” talks about repping Trife Life & Lyrikal Snuff until his very last breath. “Grey” goes for a boom bap vibe incorporating some pianos along the way carrying a curse until he finds his final resting place leading into “Wicked Shit” gets back in his trap bag talking about bringing that horrorcore to your speakers.

As for “Dagger”, we have Mikahl ending the 1st half of his inaugural LP cautioning that he has the temper of a maniac & lifting the clubs up whenever he steps up in that bitch while “On Go” talks about seeing it in the eyes of those who haven’t experienced real grief that they hate him. “Hollow” vents the frustration of feeling angry & fragile at not receiving the real answers he’s been looking for out of others just before “Becoming the Ghost” talks about transforming into a specter.

“Gang” featuring Cody Manson starts the final moments of Gangri-La with both of them living that Trife Life, explaining that their hearts are comprised of love along with anger & pain. “Leave the Planet” sends off the full-length calling for the demons to cleanse the Earth’s evil cancer & to be removed from the world we’re living in. The “forever juggalo” line has also stirred controversy because he used to represent the confederate flag & Insane Clown Posse had a highlight off their debut album Carnival of Carnage called “Fuck Your Rebel Flag”, but I digress.

For a half hour collection of 3 newly recorded songs & 7 tracks that’ve already been released previously as singles within the past couple years, Gangri-La welcomes Mikahl Lawless as newest member of Team Snuff with a full length debut that surpasses his earlier EPs. The production mixes old & new sounds together from boom bap to trap, wickedly holding down the mic by himself throughout a good portion of it aside from the very person who helped him secure a record deal obviously.

Score: 3.5/5

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Cody Manson – “E=MC Skelter” review

This is the sophomore album from Cleveland emcee Cody Manson. For the last few years now, he’s been on one Hell of a meteoric rise in the underground whether it be him signing to Lyrikal Snuff Productionz or dropping his full-length debut Psychoactive on Christmas Day a couple years back to widespread acclaim. But in light of his birthday & The Generations of Snuff Tour kicking off last weekend, Cody’s celebrating by dropping E=MC Skelter.

“Shiv” is an explosive trap opener produced by Devereaux & Lex Luger of all people talking about fucking people up whereas “Snuff Flick” with Darby O’Trill finds the 2 eerily proclaiming that they’ll turn your party into a horror movie real fast. “Un-Birthday” takes a more vibrant trap route thanks to $crim of the $uicideboy$ welcoming everyone to his funhouse, but then Slasher Dave laced up the bombastic “Gross” detailing a figment of Cody’s imagination.

Meanwhile on “Goat”, we have Cody returning to the trap sound talking about having to get his paper right leading into “No Talkin’” ominously following up the “Free Huncho” spoken word interlude by advising everyone that you gotta be taking risks to win the game. “Jackie Chan” aggressively talks about him kicking doors down in the same vein as the titular actor just before “Hockey Bag” fuses some bells & hi-hats reminding that he really got it out the gutter.

“Voices” has this incredibly hellish atmosphere to the production talking about being on the brink of insanity prior to Ghostemane tagging along for the heinous “Feeble” with both MCs confessions their demons got the best of them. The song “Thrillz” shoots for a morbid aesthetic explaining the things we do to chase such while the penultimate track “Love Me” is a trap-heavy ballad touching on heartbreak. “Tears of a Clown” however ends the album with some groovy guitar licks admitting he can’t hide from attention or run from fame.

I always love seeing artists outdo themselves with each album they put out & that’s exactly what Cody does on E=MC Skelter. The production has improved tremendously compared to Psychoactive, the lack are a features are a nice touch since they were all over the debut & Cody lyrically is the best he’s ever sounded.

Score: 4.5/5

Cody Manson – “Psychoactive” review

Cody Manson is a 30 year old rapper from Cleveland, Ohio who’s been on my radar for a couple of years now. He recently signed with Lyrikal Snuff Productionz & in light of that, we’re being treated to the man’s full-length album.

The title track that kicks the album off speaks on his meaning of such over a trap metal beat whereas the next song “S.T.F.U. (Shut The Fuck Up)” takes aim at his competition over a trap instrumental with some chimes. The track “Bounce” with Bobby Krea sees the 2 getting raunchy over a rubbery beat while the song “Lucy” with Shadow & Ether finds the trio talking about losing their minds over a comatose instrumental.

The track “W.T.F. (What The Fuck?)” with The Fallen Angel & The Irishman sees the 3 talking shit over a bassy beat while the song “Slidin’” tells those to quit speaking on his name over an monstrous instrumental. The track “Tunnel Vision” talks about holding it down for his daughter on the way over a dingy beat while the song “Fast Life” talks about everyone that’s starving to make it over a nocturnal instrumental.

The track “Better Way” with Famz finds the 2 talking about their imperfections over a trap beat with some keys & heavy guitars while the song “Already Dead” gets murderous over a paranormal instrumental. The track “Kool-Aid” with M.M.M.F.D. sees the trio talking about how it ain’t safe referencing the late WWE Hall of Famer, former 6-time WWE world champion & WWE Intercontinental Champion Randy Savage over a symphonic beat while the song “Suicide Hotline” with G-Mo Skee finds the 2 talking about making rappers want to kill themselves over a thunderous instrumental & it’s rad as fuck that G shouted me out in the opening line.

The track “Step Back” with At-L@tto & the Seed of 6ix is a moshpit starter with a beat fittingly kin to Three 6 Mafia while the song “Spiral Down” with Razakel & Damien Quinn finds the 3 talking about watching one fall over a devilish instrumental. The album ends with “Lessons”, where Cody talks about those who said he’ll never make it over a tense beat.

I’m really happy to watch dude’s evolution because this album is living proof of Cody being a good fit for LSP. Even though the features can be hit or miss at times, his undeniably has a lot of energy & you can really tell he put a lot of heart into it.

Score: 3.5/5