diamond* – “Bling Slime” review

Mechanicsville, Virginia rapper diamond* making his official YSL Records solo debut with a brand new mixtape. A member of the ØWay collective, his full-length debut Nø Idøls last summer caught the attention of Young Thug around the same time he signed Tezzus & their eponymous debut as the Uy Scuti Bøyz a few months earlier was met with disappointingly mixed reception. The Resurrectiøn recently became Tezzus’ most celebrated material & Bling Slime looks to join the conversation.

“Man øn the Møøn” gets things going talking about being the flyest artist his age in the room over some synthesizers & hi-hats whereas “Almighty Dølla” has a more hypertrap vibe instrumentally boasting his thick pockets & his refusal of backing down. “WYD2” produced by both thr6x & Zaan gives us a sequel to a 2024 single the latter also produced just before “4s” featuring Young Thug talks about pouring up Sprite with the guy over more rage beats.

Pz’ appears on “Hedis n Pelles” to energetically put dope in the pot & let it marinate leading into “GG” embracing a bit of a pluggier sound talking about rocking out shows. “Hørsebit” featuring Lil Righteous references the WME Group-owned TKO Group Holdings division WWE’s Big 5 pay-per-view events the Royal Rumble while the cloudy “3 Wishes” lets Sk8star handle a bulk of the rapping, likening himself to Derrick Rose in the 4th quarter.

“STFU” winds down the last few moments of Bling Slime talking about not beefing with anyone because his squad likes to spin over a hypertrap instrumental with a pitched vocal sample while “Burgers n Fries” featuring southsidesilhouette finds the pair promising to kill anyone who touches their chain, which is ironic because of the recent incident between che & 9 Vicious. The outro “Matter øf Time” ends the tape talking about sticking to the script since it’s what got him here.

Bling Slime to me seemed like it had the possibility of dethroning Nø Idøls but even if that album still does a better job at displaying diamond*’s artistic range, it’s a still worthy prelude to his sophomore effort Jubilee next month. The production’s a lot less experimental & cloudy, maintaining the elements of trap along with rage & plugg. I also felt like a great deal of the guests other than an underwhelming selection or 2 delivered.

Score: 3.5/5

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Tezzus – “The Resurrectiøn” review

This is the 9th extended play from Atlanta, Georgia rapper Tezzus. Introducing himself with his first few EPs Hard2Kill as well as Hellraiser & Everyday’s Halløween, his 2024 debut mixtape Tezzus Khrist would significantly elevate his profile locally as did the handful of appearances he made on The XA Tape. He later gave us the Søufside collaborative EP with Percaso, Backrooms, King Phønk, I Phønk, U Phønk and Tezzy Pendergrass until Young Thug signed him to YSL Records following 9 Vicious’ departure. ##FilthyLikeMax was a solid debut for the label & the eponymous Uy Scuti Bøyz tape left audiences including myself divided, making up for the latter with The Resurrectiøn.

We have PROJECT4PLAY sampling “Cranes in the Sky” by Solange on the intro “Solange” talking about being rich after not having shit whereas “Aubrey” flips “Trophies” by Drake discusses sitting in the back of a car with an extendo. “Tezzus Mane LaFlare” hops over a sample of “Lemonade” by Gucci Mane talking about living what he raps while “Jeffrey Williams” interpolates “Halftime” by Young Thug demanding $250K to sit with him.

“Katy Perry” samples “Dark Horse” by the latter featuring Juicy J to kick off the 2nd half of The Resurrectiøn thanks to Rafmade talking about fucking a hoe in New York until she’s sore leading into the rage-inducing “Ye” sampling “No Mistakes” by Kanye West detailing money coming after praying for the fame. The penultimate song “Lil Røkk” co-produced by ilykimchi of Working on Dying gives off a generally cloudier trap vibe talking about his phone being on do not disturb mode & the outro “ØWay” sends off the EP flexing that he’ll have all his ice on him this summer.

Hopefully the reception of the Uy Scuti Bøyz tape a couple months ago was nothing more than a bump in the road because I truthfully got more enjoyment outta this than I did that or even FilthyLikeMax not too long after YSL signed Tezzus last fall, making The Resurrectiøn the best thing he’s done since joining the label. He’s basically catching up with us on how life’s been treating him & the sample-heavy production PROJECT4PLAY mostly handles results in some of the greatest beats he’s made.

Score: 4/5

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Uy Scuti Bøyz – Self-Titled review

The Uy Scuti Bøyz are a duo consisting of Mechanicsville, Virginia rapper diamond* & Atlanta, Georgia rapper Tezzus. Both of whom have collaborated with one another a handful of times including songs like “Bada Bing Bada Boom” or “Pisces” & “Slime”. They’ve also achieved quite some success as solo artists, resulting in Young Thug signing them to YSL Records & resulted in 9 Vicious departing the label due to his feud with them. Nevertheless, it was only a matter of time until they made their eponymous full-length debut as a pairing almost a week after The Conglomeration ended The Dogs’ brief reign as AEW World Trios Champions & Kevin Knight becoming the new AEW TNT Champion respectively.

“Uy Scuti” featuring Thug finds the trio over a triumphant London on da Track instrumental to get things going reporting live from the biggest star in the universe whereas “Ew” featuring EA TJ talks about not charging prices when they’re running through all the stores. “Trashcan” bombastically represents the ØWay collective both members are apart of for a couple minutes over a PROJECT4PLAY beat while “Baby” by Tezzus featuring southsidesilhouette & Yung Fazo talks about getting head over a Hariroc instrumental.

Biggs Money appears on “Slime for Years” so they can proclaim that both of them have been YSL long before they were officially signed just before “Stepchild” featuring HittMan talks about shit getting ridiculous to them out here, giving middle fingers to all of their opps & dismissing their attention-seeking. “Guess What” by Tezzus featuring skaiwater joins forces to brag that each of them knowing they would make it until “Da Fuck” also by Tezzus featuring Rylo Rodriguez & Young Thug talks about upping the score.

“Chill Øut” featuring Shawtyrokk reaches the halfway point advising to watch out for your hoes around them over a Goxan & Whyceg beat or else it’s case closed while “Ice Øn” embraces a heavy pop rap vibe to talk about love. “Head Øver Heels” feels a lot like a Pz’ track since neither of the Uy Scuti Bøyz have verses of their own despite him explaining that he’s in love with money while “J.Ø.T.P. (Jump Øut the Plane)” featuring EA TJ, Lil Righteous & Sk8star details their luxuries over a Richie Souf instrumental.

southsidesilhouette returns for “Møtherfuckers” to talk about flexin’ racks because they used to struggle in addition to pullin’ up on their bitches so they can fuck since they don’t do any of that cuddling shit & after “St. Claire’s” gives diamond* a chance to shine by himself talking about rockin’ his ice during the evening as well as likening the way he sees things clearly to light itself, “Løve Løst” expresses their disappointment in the way this person moves.

“I’m an Artist” winds down the last few moments of the Uy Scuti Bøyz’ self-titled debut talking about upgrading their ranks within the streets & baiting women with blue $100 bills while “Hell Yeah” featuring BSlime decently makes it clear that they’re talking business, hence why they don’t fuck around whenever either of them open their mouths. The only single “Duality” ends the tape with a rage-inducing trap outro taking risks to live the lavish lives that have now.

Becoming a fan of these guys early last year, I was excited to hear that diamond* & Tezzus had signed to YSL considering the high praise projects like Nø Idøls & Backrooms received last summer. However, I felt like the Uy Scuti Bøyz’ introductory tape was more average than I had expected although I firmly believe they can top this if they ever make a full-length debut (which I’m confident they will). Their chemistry isn’t the issue in any capacity earning comparisons to the inaugural 4th Rope World Tag Team Champions & current 2-time HoG Tag Team Champions The Hardy Boyz or WWE Hall of Famers D-Generation X, but some of the production & features kinda weigh it down.

Score: 3/5

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