$crim – “A Man Rose from the Dead” review

$crim is a 31 year old rapper & producer New Orleans, Louisiana known for being 1/2 of the $uicideboy$. The duo has been impeccably consistent since their formation in 2013, but it seems like we’re finally getting solo efforts from them with the youngest of the 2 being the first at bat.

The album begins with “Delusions of Grandeur”, where $crim vents about how he can’t tell what’s real & fake over a cloudy trap beat. The next song “Scars” gets on the more melodic side of things opening up about his depression while the track “Jesus Wept” is a bombastic moshpit starter. The song “Naloxone” depressingly speaks on his drug use with some heavy auto-tune in his voice while the track “Feel It Too (It’s Too Much)” talks about how this woman left him hurt & I really love how hard the drums hit on here.

The song “Tell Me When I’m Good Enough” stays on the theme of being heartbroken over a weary beat while the track “He Got Game” finds $crim bragging over a psychedelic instrumental. The song “Portola (Blood Clot!)” robotically talks about feeling delirious over a solemn instrumental while the track “El Paseo” sings about getting rowdy over a surprisingly tropical instrumental.

The song “Nightmares from the Northside” is of course a nod to the iconic Juicy J cut “Soldiers from the Northside” down to the dynamic production while the track “Euphoria Euphoria” gets back on the drug use tip over a nightly instrumental. The song “Violent Secrets” is a lifeless love tune while the track “Side Effects” discusses how it’s lonely at the top over a bland instrumental. The song “Carcosa” talks about self-destructing over a dull instrumental while the track “Fight Club (Psychosis)” gets murderous over a bass-heavy beat.

The song “Percocets & Papers” talks about being high over a skeletal instrumental while the track “PTSD” talks about living lies over a trap beat with some decent guitar passages. The song “El Guerro” is another riot starter while the penultimate track “The Devil I Know” gets back on the lifeless heartbreak bullshit. The album finishes with “Lost Child”, where $crim talks about how he just wants to smile over a dreary beat.

Coming from someone who’s been following $uicideboy$ for quite a while now, what a disappointment. I don’t mind the overall sound, but $crim’s singing on a good bulk of this album is pretty bad & the auto-tune doesn’t help at all. Also I appreciate the fact that he wanted to it to be all him & all him only, but the lack of features really make it monotonously boring.

Score: 2/5

Trippie Redd – “!” review

Trippie Redd is a 20 year old rapper from Canton, Ohio who blew up in 2017 with the release of his debut mixtape A Love Letter to You, which was followed up with a mediocre sequel several months later. He later released his debut album LIFE’S A TRIP last summer as well as A Love Letter to You 3 last November & now, he’s commemorating the 1 year anniversary of LIFE’S A TRIP with his sophomore album.

It all starts off with the title track, where Trippie tells this chick he needs to focus on himself over a Diplo instrumental kin to Avicii’s “Wake Me Up”. The next song “Snake Skin” is an anti-suicide anthem with a dreamy trap beat while the track “Be Yourself” is an self-empowering sequel to “I Know How to Self Destruct” with a cloudy beat. The song “I Try” vents about what’s on his mind over a piano with some hi-hats while the track “They Afraid of You” is more of a Playboi Carti joint since he’s the only person on here with a verse & he uses his signature baby voice to discuss fake love over a mellow trap beat.

The song “Immortal” with The Game of all people sees the 2 talking about feeling invincible over a soulful instrumental while the track “Throw It Away” might be towards Alyek$ & the beat is pretty druggy. The song “Keep Ya Head Up” pretty much speaks for itself over a relaxing instrumental from Murda Beatz & Ging while the track “Riot” gets into fight mode over a beat with some acoustic passages.

The song “Mac 10” sounds like a leftover from Lil Duke’s latest mixtape Blue Devil 2 since there’s little to no Trippie presence whatsoever while the track “Everything BoZ” with Coi Leray sees the 2 getting boastful over a dreary beat. The song “Under Enemy Arms” talks about his wealth & naysayers over a triumphant beat while the penultimate track “Lil Wayne” in no way references back to the legendary Louisiana rapper of the same name whatsoever & the beat on here is bland as Hell. The album then finishes fittingly with “Signing Off”, where Trippie talks about not having time for bullshit over a nondescript instrumental.

Overall, this was just decent. Trippie is definitely one of the best voices in the emo rap trend & the instrumentals sound a lot better than they did on LIFE’S A TRIP, but quite a few tracks really could’ve been fleshed out more.

Score: 3/5

$uicideboy$ – “LIVE FAST, DIE WHENEVER” review

The $uicideboy$ are a hip hop duo from New Orleans, Louisiana consisting of G*59 Record$ founders Ruby da Cherry & $crim. They’ve been releasing a plethora of EPs & mixtapes since 2013, but it wasn’t until last September that they made their full-length debut with I WANNA DIE IN NEW ORLEANS. But now 8 months later, they’re delivering their 23rd EP & have enlisted the legendary blink-182 drummer Travis Barker to produce it in it’s entirety.

The EP kicks off with “Killing 2 Birds with 22 Stones”, where the duo get murderous over a grimy trap/metal fusion. The next song “Sour Grapes” calls out the music industry over an druggy instrumental while the track “DON’T TRUST ANYONE!” talks about paranoia over a noisy trap beat. The song “Individuality Was So Last Year” talks about wanting to be left alone over an atmospheric beat while the penultimate track “Aliens are Ghosts” brush off their naysayers over an eerie trap beat & I love how they incorporated samples of Anthony Fantano all over. The EP then finishes with “nothingleftnothingleft”, which is a dime a dozen digital hardcore cut about wanting to commit suicide.

All & all, this was a solid EP. The duo pretty much stick to their Three 6 Mafia influenced guns & Travis really helps enhance their aggression quite a bit. I also love how they got Munky from KoЯn to play guitar on half of the cuts to enhance the rock feeling to the project.

Score: 3.5/5

Trippie Redd – “Life’s a Trip” review

Trippie Redd is a 19 year old rapper from Canton, Ohio who blew up last year with the release of his debut mixtape A Love Letter to You. He then followed it up with a mediocre sequel several months later & now that a year has passed, we’re finally getting his full-length debut.

The album begins with “TOGETHER”, where he talks about unity over an acoustic instrumental. The next song “Taking a Walk” sees Trippie contemplating suicide over an organ-heavy Scott Storch instrumental while the track “Wish” originally appeared on Diplo’s latest EP California & it was one of my favorites off it, I don’t see why it was put on this album as well. The song “Missing My Idols” continues to prove how lyrical Trippie can be as he provides a sequel to “Can You Rap Like Me?” albeit with a trap beat & the sample that OZ uses is absolutely beautiful.

The track “Forever Ever” with Young Thug & Reese LaFlare sees the 3 getting romantical over a moody Murda Beatz instrumental. It’s endearing, but the feature from the latter is the weakest on the entire album. The song “Bird Shit” brushes off his haters over a Wheezy instrumental with a twangy guitar & rattling hi-hats while the track “BANG!” gets vulnerable over a mellow trap beat. The song “How You Feel” talks about his girlfriend ALYK$ over a psychedelic rock instrumental while the track “Dark Knight Dummo” with Travi$ Scott sees the 2 getting braggadocious over a gritty Honorable C.N.O.T.E. instrumental.

The song “Uka Uka” talks about how he doesn’t want pressure over a druggy instrumental while the track “Shake It Up” gets raunchy over a moody trap beat. The song “Oomp’s Revenge” is a heartwarming tribute to Trippie’s brother over a soulful instrumental while the penultimate track “GORE” talks about his success over a cloudy trap beat. The album then finishes with “Underwater Flyzone”, where he sings about an ex over a laidback guitar.

I was a little worried about this given the fact that Trippie initially stated that this was gonna be 26 tracks long, but I was pleasantly surprised with how it actually turned out. The production is a lot more refined than it’s been in the past & I feel like Trippie is at his most passionate on here

Score: 3.5/5