Wildcard – “The Secret Tape” review

Here is a brand new mixtape from San Gabriel Valley, California emcee Wildcard. Coming up almost 2 decades earlier off the debut Dark Night of the Soul, he’d go on to build up an impressive discography for himself from there whether it be The Odyssey & The War or Shadow Work & Change in Cabin Pressure. His last couple albums Western Promises & The Zodiac Project produced by C-Lance have both become his greatest yet, returning to drop off The Secret Tape in time for spring.

“The Natural” comes out the gate with this sample-based trap instrumental explaining that he makes music for those specific kind of people whereas “Take Flight November” aggressively talks about growing up to become a screwup. “Janice Rossi” featuring Celph Titled maintains the trap vibes so they can get on their hardcore shit together lyrically while “Carmona Cocaine Phase” compares being talented & broke to a torture device.

Matty Boy’s appearance on “Ghost Light” was average to me although I appreciate the shift towards a boom bap sound & the reference to WWE Hall of Famer Mike Tyson leading into “The January Flame” produced by Johnny Slash carrying over the rawness for a dedication to all the kids who’ve been through Hell & back. “Wine” on the other hand talks about all the things he tried to tell the person he’s addressing prior to “Half Moon Bay” finishing the 1st leg of the tape with a cloudier beat refusing to give up.

“Fire Ants” gets the 2nd half going issuing a warning of possibly winding up in prison after getting revenge on one’s enemies while “Abby” occasionally sprinkles some rock undertones in so he can make something that the woman who can be heard at the beginning can dance to. “Hitchcock” talks about another night cruising around his street feeling like an O.G. while “Smallpox” passionately assures that it’s never too late to make a fresh start.

C-Lance hops behind the boards during “Sunny Day in October” talking about not wanting to lose himself to the fray while “Endless August” treads the trap waters once again making something that any abused stepchild can relate to. “Adulthood” winds down The Secret Tape’s last few minutes passionately talking about the hardest travelled road being the changes made to what he knows while “The December Shelter” finishes with him detailing his & his wife’s experiences of having PTSD.

Gearing up for a 4-month national tour set to begin next weekend & lasting until the end of the summer, I wouldn’t consider The Secret Tape to be on the same pedestal as Wildcard’s last couple full-lengths were although that’s not to say I disliked it. It’s less conceptual than The Zodiac Project was & I like that he toned down the amount of guest appearances, but the primarily trap-oriented production feels less interesting compared to that or Western Promises.

Score: 3.5/5

Keep up with @legendswill_never_die on Instagram & @LegendsllLiveOn on Twitter for the best music reviews weekly!

Wildcard – “The Zodiac Project” review

California emcee Wildcard linking up with C-Lance for his 8th studio LP. Coming up in 2007 off the debut Dark Night of the Soul, he would go on to build up an impressive discography for himself from there whether it be The Odyssey & The War or even his last couple efforts Shadow Work & Change in Cabin Pressure. Last summer’s Western Promises resulted in one of his finest albums of his entire career yet & is now looking to up the ante by dropping The Zodiac Project.

“Aries World” opens up with a horn-heavy boom bap instrumental referring to a bunch of rats on meth as being Disney on Ice while “Taurus Jacket” maintains the sonic vibes of the predecessor talking about what he spent his 1st rap check on. “The Gemini Dance” featuring Kail Problems fuses rock & trap discussing themes of romance just before “Cancer Circle” featuring BARZ! finds the 2 talking about pushing until the wheels fall.

Apathy joins Wildcard for “Leo Lounge” returning to the boom bap promising that everyone’s getting clapped as if it’s gonorrhea leading into the soulful “Virgo Lane” apologizing for causing pain when he was selfish to the core. “Libra Season” featuring Dead Poet Devil hooks up a gospel sample to talk about going through it all while “The Scorpio Element” goes rap rock acknowledging that the hardest thing for him to do is change.

“Sagittarius Soul” has these prominent organs mixed with kicks & snares for a dedication to his mother while “The Capricorn Game” featuring A-Wax finds the 2 linking up & talking about their trigger fingers getting cold. “Aquarius Blue” shifts gears back in trap territory encouraging to drown out the voices in your head, but then “A Pisces Tomorrow” featuring Endr Won introspectively wants those who’re not in their lives anymore that they love them if they were here.

Pizzo comes into the picture on the song “Summer Snow” dropping hardcore lyricism on top of this crooning boom bap instrumental while “Brutal Blue” featuring B-Guy Griffin blends some hi-hats with melodic background vocals talking about the wild & lawless lifestyles that they live. “All Above the Above” ends The Zodiac Project with 1 more soulful boom bap joint pouring heart in his music only providing y’all with his side of the story.

C-Lance has become one of the best underground producers within the last 15 years & for anyone who loves the tracks that he’s done with Wildcard up to this point, you’re gonna love The Zodiac Project equally if not a tad bit more than the Western Promises he made almost a year & a half ago. The concept if you couldn’t tell is built around the zodiac signs & C-Lance’s diverse production carries over the consistency of the predecessor.

Score: 4/5

Keep up with @legendswill_never_die on Instagram & @LegendsllLiveOn on Twitter for the best music reviews weekly!

Wildcard – “Western Promises” review

This is the 7th full-length album from San Gabriel Valley, California emcee Wildcard. Coming up in 2007 off the debut Dark Night of the Soul, he would go on to build up an impressive discography for himself from there whether it be The Odyssey & The War or even his last couple efforts Shadow Work & Change in Cabin Pressure celebrating it’s 1-year anniversary at the end of the month. But given a couple of the singles off Western Promises, I went into it expecting it to be the strongest body of work in his catalog up to this point.

The title track is a rock-infused boom bap opener produced by Johnny Slash talking about being unable to stop this whereas “The Chaser” works in a sample on top of some kicks & snares detailing going from chasing dragons to chasing dreams. “The Rim” ruggedly confesses that he’s been envious of others’ success in the industry before, but then “Pink Diamonds” gives off a Middle Eastern boom bap flare instrumentally mixing insight commentary with humor in a tasteful manner.

“Cali Driver” featuring A-Wax hooks up an organ loop over more kicks & snares so both MCs can hope that the angels save their souls leading into C-Lance cooking up a more grueling sound for “Nightmares” pleading not to make a peep when you die like Freddy Krueger’s victims have. “St. Chris” incorporates a boom bap instrumental with horn sample talking about leaving loved ones at home that is until the crooning “Party for the Dead” says it all & I can definitely see some underground heads having it in their Halloween playlists.

Meanwhile, “The Era” makes it clear what time period he’s from with a sample-laced boom bap beat & clever wordplay just before the spirit-crushing “Place the Blame” getting more introspective on the lyrical side to pop off on all of his struggles personally.“Operator” featuring BARZ! gives me a more mafiosi feeling to the instrumental declaring themselves as exactly that prior to “Bewitched” featuring Savvy Red is a tenser cut talking about how he never meant to make her cry.

The song “Circles” looks back on never thinking that he would be using needles to get a buzz over a twangy boom bap beat from Stu Bangas while the penultimate track “Pick Your Battles” goes into a more piano-driven direction talking about selecting a specific issue of importance to focus on rather than trying to deal with many things at once. “Glass Moon Deluxe” featuring Krayzie Bone wraps up the album on a rap rock note talking about holding the ones they love tightly.

Over a decade into the game, Western Promises absolutely lived up to my expectations & I’d recommend it as a fantastic entry to Wildcard’s catalog for anyone who may be new to him. Sonically, it’s his most well-produced & you can hear that he sounds more inspired now that he’s getting older with time passing us all by as fast as it already does by embracing inspiration & exploring his past.

Score: 4/5

@legendswill_never_die on Instagram & @LegendsllLiveOn on Twitter for the best music reviews weekly!