Weekly Fix #33 ('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 where you can find the music. The bottom section will be devoted to projects that have Bandcamp or online webstore links, to give a greater highlight to those artists who you can support directly. Click here to see a list of previous Fixes.
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Tons of great stuff came out this week, with great representation from mainstream, midstream, and underground artists. A handful of killer singles came out too, so make sure you hit up that link to my new Singles post to get a rundown of what came out this week.
Boldy James continues Griselda’s streak of winning projects, Trinidad James floors my expectations with a surprising varied offering, Ransom and Nicholas Craven make their two-peat a three-peat, and Jay Royale puts Baltimore, MD on the motherfucking map for all time. Don’t forget Futurewave getting both Asun Eastwood and Daniel Son together for a murderous raw experience of a full-length project. Lots of stuff to digest.
Next week we have more than enough material to keep me occupied: Nas, Bodega Bamz, 38 Spesh & Flee Lord, Armani Caesar, and so many more are set to release in Week #34 (’20), so stay tuned, and go check in over on my Upcoming Heat page to keep up with everything I see coming on the horizon (I use this shit myself to keep acquainted, so you know it’s gotta be good).
I’d like to end this with my condolences to the family and friends of the late DJ Shay, who passed away the week. The influence and direct building done by this man cannot be overstated, and I can say that he has personally produced some of my favorite songs over the past few years. His legacy will live on in those artists who are repping Buffalo to the fullest, and there is a least a little comfort in knowing that he was at least able to see the city reach the amazing heights that they already have; I can’t even imagine how good that made him feel… Rest in Peace to the great DJ Shay.
Here’s a link to the Week #33 (’20) Playlists
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Here’s a link to the Week #33 (‘20) Singles
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Here’s a link to the Week #33 (’20) Art Appreciation post
-----STREAMING PROJECTS-----
Boldy James – The Versace Tape
I’ll be honest, I was a little nervous about this release. Griselda hasn’t really “added” a member in a very long time, and, while I was very excited to see that Boldy was able to secure a spot in the prolific collective, I wandered how this embrasure would affect him artistically. Add onto all of this that this project, his debut project as a legit member of Griselda, would be produced in it’s entirety by none other than Jay Versace, a star back in the day on the video sharing service Vine (and producer of the track Versace off of Westside Gunn’s Pray for Paris), I was going into this project wary by eager. I can say with certainty that after listening to this project, The Versace Tape is like that final piece of the puzzle falling into place. The beginning of the first track after the skit, when you’re hit with the ethereal “Griselda”, it all just made sense. Boldy is doing what he has done his entire career: lacing beats with true poetry in a very drawn-back and reserved flow, placing emphasis on the details and Detroit slang in his rhymes over any sort of gimmicky delivery. It’s a dry, but ultimately potent, technique of rapping, one that never gets old as long as his pen remains as strong as it does across the project. But the other half of this, and honestly even more of a surprise to me, is how fucking outstanding Jay Versace is as a producer. I can see The Alchemist and Roc Marciano written all over this project instrumentally, but where I think Jay makes his own lane is, unlike a lot of others who only *say* they’re drumless, Jay fucking MEANS it; you could probably count with ease exactly how many drum hits there are on this project, shunned in favor of tight and soulful loops made up of vocal chops and horns/strings to give the project more of a vintage flavor than almost anything in Griselda’s catalogue. In truth, what little is actually occurring on this project is done quietly, but put together all of these pieces and you get a statement that is as loud as a freight train: “Boldy James’ destiny was to be a member of Griselda”.
Spotify/YouTube/Apple Music
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Ransom & Nicholas Craven – Director’s Cut (Scene Three)
Ransom has been around longer than many people out there realize. Despite his long career, I feel like a lot of people are going to be really focusing on this dude going forward after 2020, because the man is three for three on projects this year. His third release this year, the third in a line of collaborative albums with the Montreal beatmaker Nicholas Craven, and possibly the best album I’ve heard from Ransom, Director’s Cut (Scene Three) is a half hour of relentless hip-hop brilliance. It would have been enough for Craven to have come through as hard as he does here, with crazy loops and samples making this a beautiful and varied listen with a great mix of lighter and more hopeful vocal samples with downtrodden guitar strings and cinematic string sections. Front to back, there isn’t a bad beat on here, which is a magnificent achievement to say the least, especially given that’s he’s already given two other whole-ass albums of similarly fantastic material. But, my friends, Ransom elevated this project from standard underground hip-hop fare to something truly special, hitting us listeners with probably some of the best writing I’ve heard this year. The tact with which he can speak on some topics, the brutality of others, and the over-arching sense of wisdom and reality in his voice all come together to for an artist whose words you take as gospel, point-blank period. This man has seen things, lived through things, and done things that we just can’t even imagine, and those emotions (whether it be pain, anger, regret, or victory) are communicated masterfully. The wordplay this man uses it top-fucking-notch, but not impossible to decipher like others in similar lanes. Crazy features (RJ Payne and Rome Streetz make killer appearances here), crazy beats, and essential rhymes make this essential hip-hop listening this year. Get on this immediately.
Spotify/YouTube/Apple Music
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Trinidad James & Fyre – Black Filter
Leave it to 2020 to come through with some of the strangest turns of event, and I think that this album right here must certainly be the pinnacle of the insanity. First, let me offer my apologies to Trinidad James: I’ve never given you the respect you deserve, and to write you off the way I have was wrong of me. I say this because Black Filter is a supremely good album, which would have been a fantastic offering had it been someone from this generation, but coming from James gives it this powerful sense of growth and maturity. Let’s get this straight though, a lot of this album does what Trinidad does best, and that’s coming up with electrifying bangers in similar fashion to his peers like A$AP Ferg and Waka Flocka Flame, capitalizing on a zany and dirty persona to create memorable party and concert-going music. But the focused topics, even on those tracks that are more “fun”, show that James has really taken the time to pen a worthwhile project, and the extra effort goes a long way. It’s the diversity on the record that really cements this album’s quality, jumping between ideas that James is able to pull off with surprising credibility; whenever he goes for a Ray Charles jam on Midwe$t Di$count, the rasp of his voice support the change, and on Tobago Ba$$ his Trinidadian roots give this electronic take on traditional sounds real heft. Anyone who loves rowdy and loud music (Denzel Curry, Flatbush ZOMBiES), but is willing to diversify a bit with all kinds of different sounds, then you’ve got to give this album a try.
Spotify/YouTube/Apple Music
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Dave East – Karma 3
Karma 3 might be my favorite out of the Karma series, but it took a lot of acceptance on my part of what Dave East *isn’t* anymore. Whenever he first hit the scene, East was angling himself to be the new Nas, but as his career has gone on it’s become clear that his real passion is for more modern trends, whether that be influence from other Harlem acts like Dipset or 2010’s pop-trap music. The man still has a pen game, do not get it twisted, but it’s not flexed nearly as often as it was in his earlier tapes, replaced with a lot more attempts at melody and vibe. He does well with these new sounds, with his smoky and accented voice being very unique out of his contemporaries, but still, I can’t help but yearn for those older sounds. In any case, this new project is one of his best in a while, trimming the fat of an overlong tracklist *slightly* (it’s 15 tracks as opposed to Survival’s 20), tailoring his features to represent his sound better, and having more focused songwriting. It’s still a street project, but it has that sheen of a mainstream release to it with it’s trap/pop beats; it reminds me a lot of that old Cam’Ron sound, where he was obviously still down at street level, but he still wanted that radio play and to be as famous as possible. If you like your mainstream hip-hop with a bit more thought behind it (and that New York grit infused in it’s DNA), then you can’t go wrong with this project.
Spotify/YouTube/Apple Music
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Young Dolph – Rich Slave
Many of Dolph’s albums have this off-the-cuff mixtape feel to them, and this album hits a lot of the same beats, while also benefitting from a increased focus and better management of a tracklist with more descript beats and solid features. His last album with Key Glock (who is an excellent fit for Dolph all things considered) was entirely too long for my taste, a difficult listen for sure, but I think this new album fixes a lot of those issues that Dum and Dummer had. First thing is first: the beats on this thing slap like a motherfucker. Simple but effective drums, and great instrumental choices with some cool guitars and grizzly pianos. Dolph on the microphone is a lower-register trapper, much like his mentor Gucci Mane, but there is also significant influence from those amongst his native Memphis like Project Pat. He stylistically runs alongside his contemporaries like Moneybagg Yo and Yo Gotti, so anyone who can fuck with those guys will love this project. The last piece of this puzzle, once the beats and charismatic verses are in place, are well-placed features: you get Key Glock on *one* verse, which is much better than half of the tracks, a G Herbo verse that is crazy hard, and a Megan Thee Stallion appearance that was definitely worth the price. A great album from an artist that I historically haven’t clicked with, so color me excited.
Spotify/YouTube/Apple Music
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03 Greedo & RONRONTHEPRODUCER – Load It Up, Vol. 1
Let’s get the negative out of the way first: some of these tracks are entirely too long. 3-4 minute tracks (without features, some with features go on for 5-6 minutes) from Greedo just end up repeating themselves after a while; even though they may have solid hooks and good performances, that’s not justification to stretch some of these tracks out like they do. Still, there are some great ideas here in the form of song concepts and left-field melodic experiments, all with that dark trap veneer over it. Greedo is probably one of the oddest crooners that is out right now (“out” is a relative term as he is currently incarcerated, #FreeGreedo), often offering up sounds and vocalizations that might be unpleasant to the ear on first listen, but the uniqueness sticks with you. It’s a similar feeling to having heard Young Thug for the first time back in the day; it *shouldn’t* work, but his rejection of any sort of pretty melody is admirable. So yeah, weird autotuned rappers like the aforementioned Thug or Kodak Black can be considered close comparisons here, but the West-Coast base Greedo is drawing from makes it different in both beat-selection and feature placement. Speaking of features, you get a lot of them on here, with some lesser known L.A. artist joining huge names like Chief Keef and Key Glock, as well as a few appearances from Shoreline Mafia emcee Rob Vicious. Take on this project if you like your West-Coast/modern trap music weird as hell.
Spotify/YouTube/Apple Music
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Guapdad 4000 – Platinum Falcon Returns
A solid collection of singles, but it really is just that: a collection of singles that Guapdad has dropped over the past 6 or so months. There’s only one new song on here, Hairless Horsemen with Boogie, and while I do think that song is fire with killer wordplay from both Guapdad and Boogie (who’s pen game is, in my opinion, heavily underrated), I think I could have waited for a full project to have heard the song. I love how willing 4000 is to collaborate with anoyone in the hip-hop game; on this project alone he’s got tracks with Spillage Village’s Deante Hitchcock, Denzel Curry, and TyFontaine, showing a great breadth of styles he is able to tap into. Being so short (and with all but one track having already come out), I don’t have much to say other than if you liked the singles, I’m sure you’ll like them all in one place like this. Let’s hope that Guapdad has a solid album coming out before the end of the year, cause his last album, Dior Deposits, is honestly still getting spins from me consistently.
Spotify/YouTube/Apple Music
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-------SOUP’S HOT DEALS-------
Jay Royale – The Baltimore Housing Project
Investment: $20.00
Despite being from Baltimore, I don’t think I’ve heard a grimier New York-sounding project all year long. Jay Royale as an emcee, while not being as deep as someone like Ransom, is really a master of commanding a lyrical and gutter flow, weaving in and out of these beats like water; I can see a lot of Big L influence in the way he structures his bars, as well as Lloyd Banks and Jay-Z when looking at the tone and dexterity of his wordplay. Hell, I would even say there’s a little bit of Raekwon in there, because his mafiaso lines are impeccable for the genre, evoking dark drug deals and mob scenes, while also taking time out to let off some killer punchlines. Even the beats are taking it back to those Mobb Deep days, with Havoc’s production style showing up all over this project. There is no filler track on here, every performance is compelling and full of straight bars, and every single feature is perfectly placed and executes flawlessly (special shoutout to fellow Baltimore native Ill Conscious, who literally sounds like Big L resurrected from the dead). This is some essential raw hip-hop right here, a steal for twenty bucks for sure.
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Daniel Son, Asun Eastwood, & Futurewave – Bite the Bullet
Investment: $20.00
Asun and Daniel have cemented themselves as the KINGS of underground hip-hop coming out of Toronto right now with this project here, coming correct on every single track with killer wordplay, cinematic and gritty stories of crime and mob bosses, and flows that hit hard and brutally. This isn’t fast or technical rapping; they are giving you exactly what you need for listenability, with every bar having some sort of clever turn of phrase or plot point in the stories they are weaving. Their voices and styles are very similar, but Eastwood has a clear animalistic hunger in his voice, while Daniel Son is operating in this low no-bullshit register that gives him a more behind-the-scenes mafia don feel to his bars. There isn’t a track that lets up on the quality, but the times where shit gets REAL are whenever Futurewave, the best producer out of Toronto hands down, hits that perfect sample: Stomile Swift, Fried Eggs, Portable Stoves, fucking SOKOUDJOU bro, all of these beats are so fucking ill I can’t get enough of them, and the emcees do not waste the opportunity to kill these beats. Even the features on here are killer, with Rome Streetz, Kardinal Official, Mooch, and Rob Gates annihilating their appearances. This is a project that you need to have, so go to Futurewave’s website below and go cop this shit, and support the amazing scene that has been built in Toronto.
=>Futurewave's Website<=
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