UFO Fev – “Pyramid Schemes” review

This gotta be the 11th studio LP from Harlem, New York emcee UFO Fev. Coming up a little over a decade ago off his full-length debut Around My Way, it wasn’t until 2020 when he saw his biggest year yet by dropping not 1 but 3 well received projects: the Statik Selektah-produced sophomore effort eFresh Air along with the Termanology-produced debut EP From El Barrio, With Love & the Big Ghost Ltd.-produced 3rd album The Ghost of Albizu. This was all followed up with Magnum Opus along with the Vanderslice-produced Enigma of Dalí & 4 EPs: The Most High, Prayer, Weed & Music, E Pluribus Unum, Sunsets in the Ghetto & of course the Finn-produced Blood on the Bills. Last time I covered Fev was last summer when Fredro Starr fully produced Strapped & Vansleazy coming back for Pyramid Schemes was a thrilling surprise.

After the intro, the first song “Snake Charmer” is a jazzy hardcore hip hop opener talking about his lane being him fusing street knowledge with the drug game whereas “Dynamite” featuring NEMS crosses over rap rock & boom bap boasting that they feel like $1B each. “Razor Keys” hooks up some prominent pianos talking about eating all these wack rappers for dinner retiring from pushing dope to rap until “Momotoro” gets back on the rap rock vibe refusing to dumb it down.

“Stunt Squad” featuring Red Inf could’ve been recorded around the same time as their Vanderslice-produced collaborative effort Chemistry last spring although it’s still hardbody & after the “Never Heard of You” skit, “Blue Face Hunnids” brings the keys back in the fold talking about times where he feels like he could’ve been greater. “Hit List” takes a soulful approach quenching for blood while “Money Man Jr.” featuring FLZY finds them exceeding & expanding.

The penultimate song “No Grant Hills” returns to the boom bap talkikg about grinding to the point where he hasn’t even slept in days constantly trapping out the Airbnb & prior to the outro, the closer “Free Sam Bankman” calls for the freedom of FTX CEO & Alameda Research co-founder Sam Bankman-Fried a.k.a. SBF after he was sentenced to 25 years for 2 counts of wire fraud, 2 counts of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, conspiracy to commit securities fraud, conspiracy to commit commodities fraud & conspiracy to commit money laundering.

Even if 1,000 Yard Stare produced by Body Bag Ben slipped through the cracks a little over a month ago & I didn’t make the time to cover it, I still thought it was a great way for him to start his 2025 & now he takes it to a new level with Pyramid Schemes. For the people BY the people, it’s guest list is stronger than that & Painting Houses 2 combined with Vanderslice’s gritty production pulling from boom bap & jazz rap to rap rock.

Score: 4.5/5

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Rim – “Corner Disciple” review

Brooklyn, New York emcee Rim teaming up with Vanderslice for his 6th LP. Notable for being 1/2 of Da Villins, he also embarked on a solo career in 2018 with his debut EP Ugandan Lunch Meat along with the debut album Dead on Arrival & the sophomore effort KeeP! It Ville. Couple more EPs Algorhythms & Poetic Substance preluded Phresh Waves, which was followed by 2 more EPs; M!nd State produced by Finn & later Verse Ability. Both installments of Rimbrandt were ok & $5 Holla was a little better, although Corner Disciple had more potential to be his best.

“Da Corner” intro by BRNGTN kinda has this drumless reggae flip that sticks out calling himself a drug game participant whereas “If It’s Hot” featuring Maffew Ragazino & Planet Asia gives off a jazzier boom bap edge kicking the bitch-made out since they were never needed & out of both guest verses, Asia’s stood out to me the most. “Stick to the Plan” works in these pianos taking jabs at those always complaining about something leading into “Daily Crimes” featuring Illa Ghee ominously walking the ghetto forest speaking orders.

We have Rim over this mobster-style beat on “Night Drives” talking about taking his whip out for a spin during the evenings while “Him Did It” ruggedly cautioning to check the signs before striking. “Hazul Story” returns to the boom bap showing off his storytelling abilities prior to “Bodega Apostles” featuring Aye Wun & Spit Gemz bringing the trio together discussing their prophets statuses in the street corners. “1 Day” breaks down the possible experiences one could have while “Faction of Action” featuring Lørd Skø & Rock ends with all 3 of them warning not to slip.

Only a little over 2 months since Stuyville put out their sophomore effort albeit 3rd body of work together overall Welcome to Stuyville produced by Camoflauge Monk & 38 Spesh to high acclaim amongst underground heads, the Pennsylvania veteran gets with the Brownsville lyricist for his most essential body of work. Rim’s songwriting is top notch & Vansleazy’s gritty yet well polished production only elevates it.

Score: 4.5/5

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UFO Fev – “Enigma of Dalí” review

This is the 5th full-length album from Harlem emcee UFO Fev. Coming up in 2014 off his debut album Around My Way., it wasn’t until 2020 when he saw his biggest year yet by dropping not 1 but 3 well received projects: the Statik Selektah-produced sophomore effort Fresh Air along with the Termanology-produced debut EP From El Barrio, With Love & the Big Ghost Ltd.-produced 3rd album The Ghost of Albizu. Dude just dropped Magnum Opus last month & is already enlisting Vanderslice for the follow-up Enigma of Dalí.

After the titular intro, the first song “Crack Shifts” is an eerie boom bap opener with him & Flee Lord talking about that’s exactly what they be workin’ whereas “Moody Bass” has a more rich instrumental & Fev saying he’s gonna take this shit mainstream. Red Inf tags along for the mellow “Pack Flip” talking about a plan to wake up the masses just before advising to keep it off the speakerphone when talking money on “Home Team”, which has some amazing sampling throughout.

Meanwhile with “Artfully Done Street Shit”, we have Red Inf returning over a guitar & some dusty drums calling out those stealing the sauce leading into him saying he’s too far over the top on the dusty albeit piano-laced “Scroll Music”. The song “Jazz Criminals” with SmooVth fittingly has a jazzy beat with both of them getting mafioso while the penultimate track “Scarlett Letters” jumps on top of some violins to state that he’s painting like Salvador Dalí. Then there’s the closer “All That Glitters”, where Fev & Sure Shot come together for a slick romance ballad.

Magnum Opus was cool, but I personally prefer Enigma of Dalí better. Vanderslice’s production is much more consistent than it was on Fev’s last album & the dude continues to reveal himself as one of the illest MCs in the New York underground right now.

Score: 4/5

Vanderslice – “Trendsetter” review

This is the 3rd EP from Phoenixville, Pennsylvania veteran Vanderslice. A man that made a name for himself by producing for the Army of the Pharaohs on numerous occasions since the mid/late 2000s & just last spring, he produced Diabolic’s 3rd album Collusion in it’s entirety & that has quickly become my 2nd favorite release of his. But as the 2nd quarter of the year is starting to begin, Vansleazy’s hitting us with Trendsetter.

After the intro, the first song “ Cold Winter” by Vic Spencer is a minute & a half of witty battle bars over a grimy instrumental. The next track “Christmas Night Heist” by Ty Farris talks about being from Detroit over a tense boom bap beat while the song “Barry White Shit” by G Perico talks about ballin’ over an organ. The penultimate track “Puzzles” by Daniel Son gets on the mafioso too over an intoxicating beat & then before the outro, the closer “Shell Casings” by Capo talks about killing his competition over an suspenseful instrumental.

Vanderslice has always been one of the illest underground producers of all-time & this just solidifies it. It’s only 10 minutes long, but the sound on here is like no other & the guests fit in very well on top of his production.

Score: 3.5/5

Diabolic – “Collusion” review

Diabolic is a legendary underground MC from Long Island, New York who made a name for himself by battle rapping in the very late 90’s/early 2000’s. However, it wouldn’t be until 2009 that he would release his debut album Liar & a Thief. Which was solid, but he would eventually outdo himself 5 years later with the release of Fightin’ Words. But now, another 5 years has passed & he has teamed up with Vanderslice to help him return with his 3rd full-length album.

After the intro, we go into the first song “Think of That”. Here, Diabolic talks about returning to the throne of hip hop over a soulful boom bap beat. The track “Jitterbug” talks about not crossing him over an instrumental with a prominent keyboard & synthesizer while the song “Normalize” vividly describes the criminal activity he involves himself in over a perfectly sinister boom bap beat. The track “See the Light” with NEMS gets cold-blooded over an eerie beat while the song “Who We Are” with Tre Mark Star, Coast & John Jigg$ is about how living rough made all 4 of them the people they turned out to be today over a spacious instrumental.

The track “Other Side” talks about living like he’s on his way to death over a vicious beat while the song “Once Again” is laced with deadly battle bars over a jazzy beat. The track “Simon Phoenix” boasts about his skills over a haunting beat referencing WWE Hall of Famer Pete Rose & before the album finishes with the outro, the final song “Last Day” with Coast sees the 2 talking about keeping it live forever but the beat on here is just ok to me.

All that being said: I think this was a dope comeback for Diabolic. It’s a bit too short as it only runs a little over a half hour, but he & Vanderslice display a pretty great chemistry together from start to finish.

Score: 3.5/5