Weekly Fix #2 ('20)

Welcome to the Weekly Fix, where I go over everything that I’ve listened to that has come out within the past week. I’ll give a little blurb about the project/single with my feelings on it thrown in there, throw some descriptors and other artists names to give you an idea what the project/single is like, and link to all applicable streaming services/online stores where you can find the music.

This week actually felt like a normal week: big names dropping, singles gearing us up for some big projects, and The Underground (aka The Abyss) spewing up some of the filthiest shit I’ve ever heard. It’s taking me a while to get through everything this week because I keep going back to one project in particular…

I gotta talk about this guy Big Ghost. He’s dropped an absolute monster of an album this week, an album that will probably go down in history as a crazy meeting of some of the greatest minds in underground hip-hop right now. But beyond being an amazingly talented individual, he is also one of the most humble. He showed your boy Tha Soup Dude *hella* love this week, and for that I will be forever grateful to him. Go out there and buy his album folks, be apart of this historical and monumental shit.

Here’s a link to the Week #2 Playlist (’20) for y’all

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Big Ghost LTD (Feat. Everyone) – Carpe Noctem

Image a posse cut that’s 45 minutes long. And not like the Rap Monument where it’s a one verse from a bunch of different artists, it’s a select group of 8 emcees who appear consistently across the album. It feels like a group album with every artist here apart of a unified whole, but at the end of the day this is just BARS. Quality verse after quality verse, all with the backdrop of a phenomenal producer in Big Ghost (who, for the record, is an incredibly humble individual). East Coast to the core; if you like lyrics and grit, do not skip this release, because this is about as hip-hop as it gets.

Recommended if you like: any of the underground cats from the past few years (Rome Streetz, Estee Nack, etc), varying takes on boom-bap beats, RZA, amazing sampling, wide array of instruments, Wu-Tang Clan, posse cuts, BARS and LYRICS, The Alchemist, no bullshit, G-Unit, flows for days, aggressive gangsta rap, Tha God Fahim

Bandcamp

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Ty Farris – No Cosign Just Cocaine 3

I’m loving the straightforwardness of Ty, who’s lyrics can be both cold-blooded and personal. His rhymes are particularly interesting, where while his beats and subject matter can be traced back to sounds like New York, otherwise he is more Midwest inspired (given he’s from Detroit) reminding me of emcees like Royce. Maybe he’s not as wordy as Royce, but his directness works in his favor here. A fantastic album, varied with great features? What else could you want?

Recommended if you like: hard-nosed rappers, Styles P, slick boom-bap, good mix of harder and softer beats, Royce Da 5’9”, Detroit, Elzhi, mafioso lyrics, great unpredictable rhyme schemes

Bandcamp

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Big Kahuna OG & Monday Night – Thug Tear

Richmond checks in on this album, with not only both emcees representing VA but also Unlucky Bastards and Graymatter doing half of the production apiece on this one. I’m loving Monday Night’s gruff voice and smooth flows, and Big Kahuna OG has this underdog feel to him with his golden age flows. The first half with Unlucky Bastards is a warm soul-fest, with great vocal loops and groovy instrumentation, while the back half is a little more abstract with Graymatter’s weirdness showing through the dense samples.

Recommended if you like: chill hip-hop, lots of samples, Big Daddy Kane, great vocal loops, Madlib, Golden Age rappers, The Alchemist, deep-voiced rappers, Chuck Strangers, duos with great chemistry

Bandcamp

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Denzel Curry – 13LOOD 1N + 13LOOD OUT MIXX

This little EP sounds like it was recorded on a Nokia phone in 2005, but that’s largely the point here. It’s blown-out and distorted to the point where you can barely make out the words at some points, and the beats can just be farty bass if you turn it up too much. I’m not shitting on this though: I love this stuff, but you’d need to be at least familiar with the aesthetic to appreciate it I’d think. It’s heavy, moving at breakneck speed from one track to another, and full of other guests to keep it interesting. It’s more like Denzel’s 13 EP than TA13OO or ZUU.

Recommended if you like: $uicideboy$, metal music, Smokepurpp, blowing your speakers out, Memphis music, BONES, super low-fi and muddy production, JPEGMAFIA, cloud rap, heavily distorted trap, HO99O9, growling, anime references

YouTube

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Chris Skillz & Zain – Olvido

There’s something charming and wholesome about this dudes voice: it doesn’t really have much of an accent, and if anything I’d think the guy is from the Midwest rather than Delaware. It seems honest, not trying to act a thug or trying to act holier-than-thou on some J. Cole shit; it’s just nice to listen to. His rapping is great, flows serviceable, and his lyrics are well written. The beats on here are the biggest surprise for me though, where while others in his area are harder and draw from more from 90’s mafiaso rap and older soul and R&B, Zain provides Skillz with more of a neo-soul spread with some organic instrumentation and chill vibes across the project.

Recommended if you like: acoustic instrumentals, Fabolous, sparse R&B-inspired hip-hop, Apollo Brown, reflective music, Blu, the Delaware scene, Evidence, underdogs, Nas, smooth boom-bap, Kirk Knight, jazzy beats, SiR, Skyzoo

Spotify/YouTube/Apple Music/Bandcamp

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Mick Jenkins – The Circus

While I like his earlier material that is more light-hearted and sensual, I don’t think his newer more mainstream angle is too bad. The production is a quirky version of trap music, with some more smooth vibey music thrown in there for good measure. I’ll always like this guys voice, but I would like it to get a bit more animated whenever he’s on the bouncier instrumentals. There are also times whenever he sounds like he’s repressing a British accent, like he’s trying for a Stormzy or a Dave type vibe. Strange.

Recommended if you like: Chicago rappers, Chance the Rapper, mix of conscious and trap lyrics, Saba, deep-voiced emcees, Noname, cute production, Stormzy

Spotify/YouTube/Apple Music

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Moneybagg Yo – Time Served

GOD I want to like this. I know that I like Moneybagg Yo; his beat selection is great, his features are always fire, he is a uniquely gross trapper, but I just can’t. This album has great hooks, solid featured guests, and Moneybagg’s rapping is on point for most of the album (when he isn’t trying to go pop with the autotune balladry). However, while I don’t see myself coming back to this album like I would with someone like, say, DaBaby, I think some of y’all might like the vibes presented here more that I would.

Recommended if you like: DaBaby, bouncy and entertaining trap production, Lil Wayne, lots of adlibs, Lil Yachty, emcees that sound like they are gargling gumballs while rapping, Lil Baby, great features, Project Pat

Spotify/YouTube/Apple Music

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Pro Zay & Chris Crnza – CRNZAY

While he’s for sure an odd individual, I’d be lying if I said he wasn’t growing on me. These beats are more structured in comparison to his last project SLUMP 2, where a lot of the appeal to me were the hazy and sickening beats. While I liked his project with Camoflauge Monk from not too long ago, I think these beats better showcase Pro Zay’s rapping ability. It’s almost guttural the way he can sludge his voice up, like a Batman villain that lives in the sewer or something. I would have liked the project to be longer, but other than that I’m liking where this guy is going.

Recommended if you like: Westside Gunn, loud and grimy emcees, Big Twinz, murky and murderous boom-bap, al.divino, short projects, Ghostface Killah

Bandcamp

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Redman – 3 Joints

Alright, so Redman is significantly past his hey-day, but while his last few albums haven’t been my cup of tea this new EP is actually great. It’s only three tracks, so there’s not much to really grab and hold onto, but it shows promise for any upcoming LP he has coming down the pipeline. He’s animated, funny, and the beats he’s on aren’t these ghoulish g-funk tracks like a lot of his contemporaries jump on.

Recommended if you like: Biz Markie, rambunctious and irreverent comedy rap, Ol’ Dirty Bastard, good punchlines, DJ Quik, harmless West-Coast beats, catchy hooks, animated voices

Spotify/YouTube/Apple Music

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Quando Rondo – QPac

Rondo is good; his voice is great , melodies great, lyrics are… ok. But there isn’t any ground he’s covering that hasn’t been covered by someone like Tory Lanez or YK Osiris recently, so unless you’re just looking for more of these artists then there might not be much here for you. I will say he slants more towards the Chicago side of the spectrum, with artists like Polo G and Lil Durk being great influences as well as features. The beats are also great across this thing, but there are some redundant tracks across the 18 songs.

Recommended if you like: YK Osiris, melodic rapping, YoungBoy NBA, heavy autotune, Lil Durk, Chicago crooners, Tory Lanez, Polo G, trap percussion, Future, A Boogie wit da Hoodie

Spotify/YouTube/Apple Music

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-------SINGLES-------

Tha God Fahim – Iron Fist

This track should remind you how awesome that Muggs LP he dropped a month or two ago was. This track is also produced by the Cypress Hill DJ, and the slow, lumbering nature of the beat builds up tension that no one by Muggs could pull off. Fahim even hits a great flow on his second verse, and his hook game is on point for this single. It’s all supposed to lead up to a record at the end of the month, which is *extremely* rare for any of his albums to have a lead-up like this; I’m expecting great things.

Recommended if you like: philosophical hip-hop, Mach-Hommy, enlightenment, Westside Gunn, adlibs, Eto, hazy boom-bap beats, Roc Marciano, steady and measured flows, DJ Muggs,

Spotify/YouTube/Apple Music

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Future (Feat. Drake) – Life Is Good

So I’m a bit conflicted on this one: I like both halves of this song, with Drake’s version a low-key banger with Drakisms abundant, and Super’s half an absolute banger showing off an aggressive and non-stopping flow…. But why are these two halves put together like this? They really have nothing to do with each other, with two completely different vibes separated by a skit that only works because of the star-power behind it. It’s like someone heard Sicko Mode and was like “he doesn’t even need to be on the same beat, just throw him on the song and it will sell”. Still, I like the song for what it is.

Recommended if you like: beat switches, Drake doing ok, Young Thug, Travis Scott, banger trap beats, solid flows, Meek Mill, introspective lyrics/trapper lyrics, Gunna

Spotify/YouTube/Apple Music

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Lil Baby – Sum 2 Prove

A very odd choice for a single for a couple reasons: he’s leaning heavily into his slurred speech sounding more like Young Thug than ever, the beat is has typical trap percussion but features this shrill synth melody that is cool but I don’t know if the masses will like it, and at 3:30 it’s quite long for a typical solo song from an artist like this. I’m liking the track for its unorthodox approach from Baby, and has me looking forward to his upcoming project (especially because he didn’t have a project at all come out last year, very strange for someone in his lane)

Recommended if you like: off-kilter trap bangers, Gunna, ….”mumble-rap”, Future, unrelenting flows, 21 Savage, Atlanta rappers, Young Thug, Future, Gucci Mane

Spotify/YouTube/Apple Music

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Carnage (Feat. Tyga, Shoreline Mafia, & Takeoff) – Hella Neck

It’s a bit slower and blander than a lot of DJ Carnage’s best work, but it works well enough as a subdued West-Coast banger. OhGeezy’s hook is aiight (I thought it was Nef tha Pharaoh at first), Tyga literally does what he does on every track, and Takeoff is a welcome addition by bringing the fire on the back-end of the track. Really the biggest takeaway from Hella Neck is that Takeoff needs to be on more features out there, because he still hasn’t lost his knack for killer flows. We’ll see what Carnage comes out with this year.

Recommended if you like: Bay-area influence, Blueface, west-coast, Roddy Ricch, minimal bangers, DJ Mustard, YG, the Bay Area, E-40, hilarious bars, Nef Tha Pharaoh

Spotify/YouTube/Apple Music

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Dear Silas (Feat. Big K.R.I.T.) – I Got It

This guy is pretty goofy, like Chance the Rapper’s newer material or EARTHGANG. I can definitely get behind Silas’ flow however, which shows an Outkast or some other heavily southern influence (maybe even K.R.I.T. himself). Speaking of K.R.I.T., he kills his appearance on the track, with a good mix of his southern flow and singing in there. The beat is also very reminiscent of something Chance would be dropping back in his Acid Rap days, with a great horn section lightening up the drum hits.
Recommended if you like: conscious hip-hop, Chance the Rapper, speedy and intricate flows, Isaiah Rashad, very positive vibes, EARTHGANG, punchy drums, Saba, happiness, T.I., Pharrell Williams

Spotify/YouTube/Apple Music

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DC The Don, YBN Almighty Jay, & DDG – Red Light


Loving the steel-drum-backed beat on this one, like a Soundcloud banger from back in the day. I’d never heard of DC before this, but the kid definitely has energy (maybe not energy to last in the game but he has promise). I thought YBN was pretty much dead in the water, so seeing Jay on here is surprising but… acceptable. DDG is a dude I never got into, but he held his own here. Really though, I’d just love to hear other emcees on this beat.

Recommended if you like: Lil Pump, steel drums, Soundcloud rap, Famous Dex, fast paced bangers, Migos, NLE Choppa, ignorant trap lyrics, Kodak Black, loud and shouty emcees

Spotify/YouTube/Apple Music

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