Weekly Fix #23 (‘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. Click here to see a list of previous Fixes.
We’re seeing some real progress out there. People out there, showing support, talking about these issues, donating time and money to the cause. I’m inspired, but also wary of slipping back into the world of the past… but we should still acknowledge the steps taken. Look up to the top of the page to see a banner; click on that shit to donate to ActBlue’s specific bail, mutual aid, and racial injustice fund. Give what you can, because it helps.
I’ve gotta say that personally, shit has been hella busy for me recently. I have a new job now, and it’s been eating up a lot of my usual writing and listening time. I’m able to keep up with my weekly content in my spare time, but any major writings I have in the works (which I have a couple of things brewing) are kind of in limbo as I figure out the ins and outs of my new position. Bear with me and one day shit will be normal again.
OK, so let’s talk about some music. Unless you count the ZOMBiES as mainstream, there were no major label heavy hitters who dropped anything of note this week. I would imagine it feels… off…. releasing music at a time like this, and I could understands the Drakes of the world not wanting to push an album rollout strategy when they need to be talking about and bringing attention to the situation at hand; much respect to those artists. But music is also a way to cope and to understand the things happening right now, concepts that Run the Jewels, Armand Hammer, and YG understand, all releasing material that either directly speak on the events recently, or are so well written that it provides perspective that can be used to educate yourself on how these situations come about.
Pop Smoke’s album got delayed to early July, so for next week I’m looking at iann dior (who was also delayed a week apparently), and this dude RMR who has really impressed me as of late with his singles. I also see Richmond’s Monday Night dropping an LP with producer Foisey, looking forward to that shit. Come look at my Upcoming Heat page to see those projects, as well as others that are arriving in the weeks to come.
Here’s a link to the Week #23 Playlist (’20) for y’all
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Here’s a link to the Week #23 (‘20) Art Appreciation post
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Armand Hammer – Shrines
In a pretty significant change over ELUCID and billy woods’ last album, Paraffin, Shrines is a slightly more upbeat and soulful representation of the wisdom that lay at the heart of Armand Hammer. Their previous work had this hopeless and debased quality, a sort of ooze that permeated the entire album; this newest album plays more with left-field beat loops, odd but not necessarily depressing sample choices, with all of the instrumentals here taking on this brittle… dare I say it…. “happiness” to them. It’s very different from what I expected, but it does fall into closer comparison to some of their contemporaries like Navy Blue and Earl Sweatshirt (both of whom provide production on this album, so it is to be expected). As for billy and ELUCID, you’ll be hard pressed to find two emcees who have the intentionally dense and cryptic lyric game on lock like they do. ELUCID has the more cerebrally profound statements, but woods is the master of hitting you with blunt truths about society and human interaction, pulling no punches as he tells you *the* way the world works. Shrines is an amazing addition to the group’s discography, showcasing a slightly different tone while still maintaining lyrical mastery. If you like cats like Open Mike Eagle, Earl Sweatshirt, Aesop Rock, and MF DOOM, then you’ve gotta give this a chance.
Spotify/YouTube/Apple Music
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Run the Jewels – RTJ4
I’ve been a fan of Run the Jewels since their second album, a project which holds a very special place in my heart as being one of the hardest albums I’ve ever heard. The beats straddled this line between industrial oddity and speaker-blasting sub-bass, with roots in both southern disrespect and northern instrumentalists. Since then, I feel like the left-field influence has creeped in as the dominant ingredient, with Run the Jewels 3 feeling a lot more like an El-P solo endeavor instrumentally; not in any way a bad thing given how genius El is behind the boards, but I would be lying if I said I didn’t miss the insanity of 2. RTJ4 follows 3 before it, moving farther towards the left, with a more electronic, digitized, and equalized feel that ever before. Despite this not being 100% revolutionary music like the first two installments, this newest album still has flashes of brilliance, like the BRUTAL Killer Mike verses on Walk In the Snow, complete with almost otherworldly poignancy lyrically as he describes a police execution with the phrase “I Can’t Breathe”. While it’s obviously a reference to Eric Garner, it is indescribably chilling that this exact same situation comes about again with George Floyd mere days before the release of this album. This is still a fantastic album, and it’s still a healthy mix between the brutal and the listenable. If you like fighting the power, then this is essential music.
Spotify/YouTube/Apple Music
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Milano Constantine – Winston Wolf
You gotta know that Pulp Fiction is one of my favorite movies of all time, so if you throw out a song or project themed after it you’re gonna get a listen, and you’ll most likely get my love with it. So I had to jump on this new project from Milano, and as I expected it’s fire. Great samples across this thing, with production from Sirplus and The P Brothers, as well as a few instrumentals from Milano himself, having a very old school hip-hop feel. Great natural basslines, strong loops; basically, great canvases for Milano and friends to spit their gems. Constantine is a grimy motherfucker for sure, having this high-pitched voice that reminds me of an Italian mob boss, and his subject matters range within the purview of a mob boss as well. The dude has been around for a long minute, associating with the legendary D.I.T.C. crew out of New York, so he’s able to get a couple of great guests to bolster up this 16 minute project with some meat. Smoke DZA does his thing, spitting a great verse on the title track, but it’s Rigz who blew his featured performance out of the fucking water. I swear this dude gets sharper every time I hear him, and the wordplay and flow on his verse are damn near perfect, so cold and unfeeling in his delivery but his wolfishness is still coming out strong. I love short projects, I love Milano Constantine, I love samples, and you damn sure know I love Pulp Fiction. Go get this shit off of Bandcamp and support this guy.
Bandcamp
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The Musalini & G4JAG – Scriptures In The Sky
The profile of these two gentlemen is growing bigger and bigger as time goes on, and I feel like before long they will be the faces of the understated gangster delivery in front of smoldering and mystical boom-bap. The beats across this thing remind me of some early Daringer, with little in the way of slap or bounce, instead trading that for sharp strings and pensive drones. JAG and Mus are very hands-off in terms of their delivery and vocal tone, with Mus playing with his lackadaisical and uncaring flows while spitting heavy-handed pimp gems, and JAG leaping head-first into this monotone and deeeeeep-throated baritone in his voice that has very few comparisons in the genre. I will say that these two complement each other very well, taking on two dramatically different sides of the same dreary and measured coin, and all across this project the chemistry and comradery seems to run very deep. The features on here are great, with Planet Asia and Emilio Craig standing out as some great names for emcees in this scene. Overall I think this is one of the more solid collaborative records this year, and if you fuck with anything coming out of Trust Gang or the Loyalty Or Death movements (also see Griselda or the LOX), then this will be for you.
Spotify/YouTube/Apple Music
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Sleepy Hallow – Sleepy Hallow Presents: Sleepy For President
This project still fits into this newer Brooklyn Drill wave of music coming out right now, but Sheff G and Sleepy Hallow feel like more of a bridge from American hip-hop to Brooklyn Drill, rather than people like Fivio Foreign and Pop Smoke who obviously took major influence from the UK. Sleepy Hallow raps are more low-key and vibey, not as much as Sheff G can get (G is on 3 tracks here, and admittedly I have difficulty telling the two apart sometimes) but the two are still very similar artists. The beats across this project are the most familiar sounding among records in this genre, with a lot of the same trap percussion techniques and New York pop-rap infusing itself among Drill beat structures. Despite it not really pushing this subgenre forward, I think this project will sit well with the modern pop-rap listeners and trappers. If you like people like Rich The Kid, Don Q, and Lil Tjay, then give this a shot.
Spotify/YouTube/Apple Music
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Flatbush ZOMBiES – now, more than ever
Flatbush fans have pretty much split into two groups at this point: those who wish Erick would use more samples, and those who think that the trap-leanings of modern ZOMBiES suit the flows and vocal deliveries of its members better. While I do yearn for the days of BetterOffDead, I think that the new brand of music the trio comes with has its own merit with its own highs. This new EP here is probably the most distilled and processed the ZOMBiES have ever been, but you can see flashes of how the three can transfer their talents from 90’s Horrorcore/NY gangster rap into more of a modern trap/pop rap affair and have it make sense. First off, and this has never been in question but deserves to be brought up here as something that has truly progressed within the group, is that the chemistry between the members has never been better, with each character knowing their strengths and weaknesses well enough to create engaging tracks with little redundancy. Meech is still an animal when he chooses to let his voice run wild, Erick is still a grounding and somewhat wise presence, and Juice is as strange as ever, relishing more in his singing and hook-creating abilities than ever before. The beats (all done by Erick) are as gorgeous as they can be without utilizing sampled material, a far cry from the simplicity of their debut album, and a reflection of the growth that Erick himself has gone through as an instrumentalist. now, more than ever is a much darker and moodier project that Vacation in Hell was, reflecting the growth as people they demonstrated on that Beast Coast tape from last year. I think this project is a step in the right direction of reconciling the older and newer ZOMBiE sounds, and I look forward to seeing how the trio develops from here.
Spotify/YouTube/Apple Music
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Big Kahuna OG – Blockavelli
Before this project, the only material I had heard Kahuna on were the varying shades of Richmond left-field hip-hop, which is usually sample-based, hazy, and abstract. In direct contrast to what I’ve heard of him before, this project right here shows a wide range of sounds that Big Kahuna jumps on and executes flawlessly over, from G-Funk in the spirit of DJ Quik, some old school Gucci trap beats, more soulful and concrete hip-hop like 9th Wonder (I’m pretty sure HOLLYOXENFREE directly samples 9th), and even like some Mannie Fresh old Wayne beats with bounce and rock to them. Despite being compiled singles, I think this might be my favorite project from the man, because every track is fantastic and shows that Kahuna’s skill is much wider than the confines of Richmond. His bars and his delivery and still aggressive and biting, stepping up his flow and lyrical dexterity whenever the beats get more intricate and hairy. It’s kind of like a sample-platter of everything that makes Kahuna an artist worth following, and I think this only shows that we haven’t seen the limit to his creativity yet.
Spotify/YouTube/Apple Music
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BriskInTheHouse – The Wonderful Mind of Allah
This project came out a few months ago at this point, and normally I don’t write about something that came out so long ago even if it’s just brought to my attention, but this project was so great that I had to give it some shine. Brisk is an artist from Brampton with close ties to fellow Canadian Raz Fresco (who commonly associates with other Torontonians Daniel Son and Asun Eastwood), operating in a similar lane to those making music in the Toronto underground right now. It’s 90’s inspired, with roots in conscious and mystical New York rap; think Wu-Tang Clan with the wisdom, slightly more modern underground for the beat selection. 5% ideology is a huge part of the brand for Brisk, commonly comparing himself to the enlightened, wanting to bring his knowledge to those in the 85% (again, another huge comparison to Wu legends like Raekwon and Ghostface). There are some real gems on here in terms of smart and ponderous hip-hop, with lots of comparisons with Buddha and God himself that set Brisk apart as a real thinker in this genre. Raz Fresco appears on the project three different times, so you can see how much he values that relationship. Despite some consistency issues across the project in terms of mixing and engineering, I think this is a solid project that shows a lot of promise for the up-and-coming underground artist.
Spotify/YouTube/Apple Music
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-------SINGLES-------
YG – FTP
You can always count on YG to come through with a political banger, a bludgeon of a track that doesn’t work necessarily off of the nuance of it’s message, but rather the simplicity and no-brainer attitude of it’s direct attacks. Fuck Donald Trump is every bit as relevant in todays social climate as it was four years ago (in fact, the sentiments seem to only become more and more affirmed as time roll on), and he’s followed up that clear-as-day anthem with another crystal clear anthem: Fuck The Police. With the murder of George Floyd throwing itself at the forefront of world-wide consciousness, YG is able to pool together all of his charisma and character to deliver a message that most of us (amazingly not all of us, as there are some people out there that *still* don’t get it) are feeling in our hearts and vocalize it in a usable, catchy, and repeatable chorus. The police has never been and will never be a friend to the Black community, and you can hear the venom and disdain that YG holds towards the institution in his bars. Besides the lyrics, the beat follows modern LA production styles, with the synths and drums evoking that old DJ Mustard style that YG grew up with. DEFUND THE POLICE.
Spotify/YouTube/Apple Music
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JPEGMAFIA – CUTIE PIE!
This track came out last week, and I’ve totally be listening to it since then, but for some reason it totally slipped past me whenever I went to write the Weekly Fix last week. We’ve got ourselves a smooth and groovy banger from Peggy here, nothing more, nothing less. The minimal nature of the track and its relative…. normalness sounds like something I haven’t heard from him before. I think back to the beat that he gave Danny Brown on his last album, and how straightforward it was, and it intrigues me for how Peggy would go about making an album that was much more broadly appealing, increasing his profile in mainstream hip-hop. This track and tracks like it could achieve this, as I think people would fall in love with the bassline and the tongue-in-cheek social lyrics, a far cry from his usual digital oddities. If you like A Tribe Called Quest or Sean Price, give this a shot.
Spotify/YouTube/Apple Music
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Terrace Martin & Denzel Curry (Feat. Kamasi Washington, G Perico, & Daylyt) – Pig Feet
Gotta say up front that Terrace killed this track behind the curtains; the structure and progression of this track is well thought out and engaging, kind of like a string of mini movies that hover and switch from character to character. The instrumentation is lush and fast moving, with the horns and cop sirens really adding to the cinema of the song. But the film is only as strong as its characters, and the cast assembled here is pretty amazing. You have the fireball Denzel Curry, spitting hot lava that is as antagonistic towards the pigs as it is revolutionary, and his shouted flow is always something to marvel at. Daylyt goes batshit crazy on the backend of the track, with his rhyme scheme switching on a dime a dozen times throughout his verse, occasionally slipping into some topical material about police brutality and the nationwide conversation surrounding it, but mostly impressive just for its technical prowess alone. The only downside to this track is the fact that G Perico is mentioned as a feature… but the only contribution from him comes down to some speaking parts in the ongoing background scene. Very disappointing, as I would have liked to have heard his perspective on all this madness that’s going on. If you like West-Coast music, detailed and organic instrumentals, and a host of guests who are masters of rapping, then you’ll love this shit.
Spotify/YouTube/Apple Music
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Conway the Machine – Front Lines
It runs as a normal Conway track, with the lumbering piano beat and the drug-and-violence laced raps all being par for the course in regards to any Machine track. While this is all well and good, and all of this together makes for a great Conway track, it is made even better by the fact that the second verse is one of his most topical and politically relevant verses in recent memory, taking into account all of the unrest in the United States today, getting into the specifics of the murder of George Floyd and police killings in a way that Conway gives emotion and makes strangely chilling. It’s a cold track, but it still burns with resentment and rage over the events that have transpired over the last few weeks. If you like Griselda, slow-paced and dirty instrumentals, and a great topical focus lyrically (especially political music), then this is for you.
Spotify/YouTube/Apple Music
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Apollo Brown & Che Noir – ‘94
This might be the best Che Noir track to date; I love how the overall concept of the track revolves around the year 1994, both personally to Che and professionally as a genre. Noir was born in ’94, so her stories and her struggles begin generationally in this year, a topic that she digs into with her own childhood, family, and dreams of being a rapper herself from a young age. But she also uses 1994 as a year of influence, going over the litany of foundational hip-hop that is essential to not only understanding where Che Noir wants to take her career, but also understanding the genre as a whole. Records from Tupac, Nas, and Biggie all play a huge part I shaping who Che is on the microphone in 2020, and this track brings together all of the aspects of what has brought her to this point in her career in a very personal and succinct fashion. It goes without saying that Apollo Brown has scored this montage perfectly, with his distinct brand of soul-looped nostalgia being a perfect backdrop to the stories and namedrops being spit in the lyrics. So far, this new collaborative project between Brown and Noir is looking rock solid, and I can’t wait to hear the whole thing. If you like soul, blues, sample-based production, and a great emcee with a good head on her shoulders, then listen to this shit.
Spotify/YouTube/Apple Music
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Wiz Khalifa & Travis Barker – Drums Drums Drums
The beat never really goes anywhere from a progression standpoint, but goddamn if this track doesn’t slap on a good sound system. Those 808’s kick like a motherfucker, not really giving me Travis Barker vibes (who I thought is an actual drummer?; what is he doing here?) as much as it does Pharrell or the Neptunes flashbacks. In fact, with Wiz Khalifa on the vocals doing what he does best for the weed and pimp cultures, this almost sounds like a track directly inspired by Drop It Like It’s Hot. This really is a speakerknocker that plays off of its strengths, utilized Wiz just about as much as it needs to, and doesn’t overstay its welcome. Hell it’s even a little catchy on the hook is you want some earworm material. If you want riding music, gym music, or shit to blow some subs out to, then this track will be your best bet this week.
Spotify/YouTube/Apple Music
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Gunplay – PAY THE PIPER
Gunplay is 2 for 2 right now with the catchy hits, with last weeks throwback Florida banger pairing nicely with this weeks’ more modern pop-trap banger. The hook is a vulgar earworm, with a slick play on the whole “piper” persona making for some hilariously hard wordplay. The roots for this song seem to lie more in the Atlanta side of hip-hop, still maintaining the lighter-hearted nature of some of his other work but going for a more refined and minimal sound. Gunplay can still sound like Ross at almost every turn, but you can still get whiffs of the ear-grabbing writing styles of people like DMX and Xzibit, and the complete goonishness of Gucci. I like where Gunplay is going, and I’m looking forward to whatever project he’s building up to.
Spotify/YouTube/Apple Music
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