Weekly Fix #34 ('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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Another great week for hip-hop, continuing a streak of solid releases and singles that have made the last few months bearable. There’s a lot of crazy shit going on in the world right now; I think now more than ever it’s hard to not feel like the world is totally fucked, especially here in the United States... I don’t have inspiring words to help offset those feelings. BUT, what I DO have, are some artists for you to listen to, many of whom have made music that will help you to realize the important culture that these protests are trying to protect. Defunding the police would also help too.
Nas and Vic Mensa show us that even names with the most dirt thrown on them can come through with stellar records, with Recognize Ali and Buckwild showing us that the old spirit of hip-hop is far from dead. Another album from Flee Lord, a long-awaited album from Bodega Bamz, and a shot from left-field from NCL-Døøfus round out the rest of this week’s strong performance.
Looking forward to next week (AKA right now because I’m a procrastinating chucklefuck), we got a new The LOX album, another Flee Lord album (one just came out last week holy shit man), the new Internet Money LP, and a new M.A.V. album next Monday. Check out all of this and more over on my Upcoming Heat page, a calendar where I lay out everything I see coming on the horizon in terms of new music releases.
A big thank you to everyone who has contributed to making this website as successful as it is. I wouldn’t be anywhere without the support. I’m so glad that I’m able to point music in the direction of people who would enjoy it, and having people reach out to me to tell me that they found one of their new favorite artists from Tha Soup Dude’s Kitchen is just the best feeling. Shoutout to all of you soup-heads (I promise I won’t make this the name for y’all) out there, and lets take this thing even further.
Here’s a link to the Week #34 (’20) Playlists
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Here’s a link to the Week #34 (‘20) Singles
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Here’s a link to the Week #34 (’20) Art Appreciation post
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Nas – King’s Disease
I’m one of the very few listeners out there it seems that loved both Nas’ NASIR and Lost Tapes 2 projects. While Nas is not as fluid as he was in his younger days whenever it comes down to his flow and wordplay, his lyrics and his whole-hearted commitment to speaking on very real issues left me with positive impressions. I had already seen NASIR as a return-to-form for Nas, so this new album here, produced almost entirely by Hit-Boy, is merely another home-run for the legend. With all of that being said, I do think that King’s Disease is a *better* album than both NASIR and Lost Tapes 2, being more substantial than the former and more focused than the latter, with the rock-solid consistency and reasonable concessions to modern trends coming off as an album built with careful eyes to furthering Nas’ career into another decade seamlessly. There is nothing I would call “boom-bap” on this project, but that is not at all to the projects detriment; it sounds more like a mixture of trap/pop-rap and some early 2000’s sample-based production, refined without any of the dirt of the 90’s. Coincidentally, I honestly think this project sounds more like a Kanye project (in his hey-day) than NASIR did, at least from a instrumental perspective. Nas’ lyrics on this project are all entirely on point, not impressing with any sort of technical flourish, but making one think about relationships, the black experience, and the history of oppression worldwide (as well as some wealth and flexing bars; it wouldn’t be an Escobar album without them lets be real). I think the most surprising thing about this project (because he *has* gone over more popular beats before this) are the guests that he brings on to the album to support him. Big Sean was a very surprising choice, but I think him and Nas kill the track their on together. But you also get both Don Toliver and Lil Durk, two artists in a completely separate lanes from Nas, but unbelievably it works, especially Don’s hook on Replace Me. Anderson .Paak is a great choice to represent modern R&B as well. By far the strangest collaboration that somehow works is Fivio Foreign, the foremost member of modern New York hip-hop; the mixture isn’t silky, but it’s not oil and water either, more than enough to call it a success. Add in a The Firm reunion with killer features from all 4 members, and you couldn’t have asked for a better spread of features. There hasn’t been a better Nas album since… I’m going to go out on a precarious limb and say this is the best Nas album since the original Lost Tapes. If you want to see how a rap dinosaur can maintain relevancy with class, this is the go-to example.
Spotify/YouTube/Apple Music
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Vic Mensa – V Tape
I don’t think I’ve seen an artist go from something so… not for me… like Vic’s previous 93PUNX project, to this EP right here that is everything that I could have ever wanted from Mensa. There is something that I’ve been forgetting over the past 3 or so years, so here it is so both me and all of y’all never forget it: Vic Mensa is a fantastically talented rapper, and don’t let any of his shit projects convince you differently. V Tape is a return to form for Vic the rapper in an incredible way, with every track showcasing great flows, superb wordplay (sometimes it can be a bit corny, but this is rare), and an unflinching approach in reflecting on his past mistakes and tragedies. It’s only 7 tracks, and he doesn’t waste a single one on a half-baked genre crossover, something that has been a problem is almost all of his projects. In fact, it really seems like he had something to say on this album, a specific response to all of the things that have happened to him, both good and bad, over the past few years; he touches on his debauchery, poorly-received projects, his mental health struggles, his family tragedies, hell he even apologizes for that bullshit he pulled when he dissed XXXTENTACION at the VMA’s or whatever it was while X’s *mother* was in the crowd. If you think the man isn’t being sincere, I challenge everyone to listen to the track 2HONEST and tell me this man is not exhibiting genuine emotion; the way he talks about his mental health struggles extending all the way back to when he was a child is just heartbreaking, and the emotion in his voice is tough to listen to. There is a lot of Drake influence here, with a lot of “state of my life” bars on here, more modern production, focusing on Vic as the main character rather than bringing in a bunch of guests (we only get a handful of singers on here, no guest rappers). This is rap with heart, and a crazy comeback from someone who should have been way bigger than he ever ended up being (maybe he’s big for all of the wrong reasons nowadays but I hope this project can change that).
Spotify/YouTube/Apple Music
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Bodega Bamz – Yams Heard This
Last year Bamz came out with an album with Salaam Remi called Bodega’s Way, a project that had me excited for the prospect of another Bamz project (I know that’s he’s had a couple over the years, but 2015’s Sidewalk Exec was the last time that I had really checked for the guy). I expected some modern-tinged New York hip-hop, but what we got here on Yams Heard This was so much more modern than I was expecting. You get the track Ginsu as a sole throwback to an older, more fun sound, but everything else are different shades of harder trap and New York bangers. There’s something about his character that lends hype to his party music, a hype that he can build up over a dope chorus spit in his higher-pitched gutter voice. When given a solid instrumental (like much of the project is), he can carry an entire track himself, a feeling I rarely get, and one that has me acceptant of a lack of features on here. It’s shorter, the tracks have some cool topics, and his wordplay and flow, while they can be a bit disjointed, make Bodega Bamz a very unique presence on the microphone. Don’t go into this expecting anything old school; think back to some of he A$AP Mob’s earlier work, specifically Ferg. His acting career has taken off, so I hope that means he releases more material to capitalize on his popularity, cause this shit is fire.
Spotify/YouTube/Apple Music
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$auce Heist & Camoflauge Monk – $auce Monk 3
Heist has never entered my playlists as much as I would like: he had an LP with al.divino called Bengal Bone Marrow a few years ago that I thought was solid as fuck, but besides a couple of EP’s I haven’t dove into his discography as much as I have wanted to. I think I’ve been missing out on some great tunes in this case, because this newest collaboration with Buffalo legend Camoflauge Monk is underground hip-hop gold. I need to start with the instrumentals, because god damn I can’t speak highly enough about the spread of beats here: the loops are sharp, the eclectic and mystifying sounds create this dingy and dark atmosphere, and the drums are on point (when they are present, some tracks work without them). The heart and warmth in these samples is like listening to vinyl without a record player, a testament to Monk’s very honed skills behind the boards. Sauce tries very hard to make himself standout over these beats, which often take up a lot of the ear-space with their loudly-played samples, as he is a naturally loud and boisterous emcee to begin with. The combination of the two creates hip-hop that is raw, unrefined, and discordant, not at all in a negative way but in a attention-grabbing and entertaining way. The album is taken into the stratosphere with it’s features, a veritable who’s-who of underground hip-hop today: you get frequent collaborators divino and Rome Streetz, Monk favorites Elcamino and Hus Kingpin, and huge names like Flee Lord and ANKHLEJOHN to accompany Sauce on his stellar journey. Listen to this if you like the weirder side of underground hip-hop, music with an older soul but a newer approach.
Spotify/YouTube/Apple Music
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Mulatto – Queen of Da Souf
I knew from the lead single for this album that it was going to be hard-as-nails, and I’m glad that my hunch proved to be true. Mulatto is an incredibly forceful emcee, a die-hard gangster energy matched only by an overwhelming feminine energy, and while her topics revolve around a similar pool of sexual boasts and violent threats, the fun and charismatic rapper enjoys a draw to her vocals that few emcees out of Atlanta can command, let alone any other female rappers. She wears her influences on her sleeves: Gucci Mane & T.I. out of the ATL, but there’s also outside southern influence in Master P and Trina. You can say that she also sounds a lot like some of her contemporaries like Megan Thee Stallion and Cardi B, but the similarities pretty much lie in the brashness and overt sexualities of their personas. The beats are also a great assemblance of punchy trap instrumentals, most being pretty bare-bones in nature: few, but highly identifiable, instrumental elements, but speaker-busting bass notes. There’s nothing too revolutionary on here, and there are some duds whenever Mulatto tries to leave here comfort zone for more melodic tracks, but overall I think we got a solid trapper’s project.
Spotify/YouTube/Apple Music
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-------SOUP’S HOT DEALS-------
Recognize Ali – Recognition
Investment: $20.00
It’s rare that an album can maintain my attention for 18 tracks, but Recognize Ali has managed to do this through three different avenues: his bars are hard as a motherfucker, he has a whole posse of guests that all bring the best work they possibly can, and, whenever you think there’s about to be a lull in the tracklist, the producer will pull out all stops and make some hip-hop gold with a sample flip. Ali, a rapper operating here in the US by way of the African nation of Ghana, has been on my radar for a little while now, having first recognized (pun intended) his talent featuring on Jay NiCE’s POMPEii! record, but it wasn’t until he came together with Big Ghost on the Carpe Noctem LP that I said that this is a man that I need to be checking for constantly. As recently as June we got an album from Ali, the Stu Bangas-produced Guerilla Dynasty, and this coupled with the absolute ruin left in the wake of his recent features had me very excited looking to the future. Recognition is, without a doubt, the best piece of work that Ali has ever put out, and that’s a pretty high bar to clear on it’s own. He does not skimp on a single verse on this project, giving every grizzly war story and threat of violence it’s due attention; he commands both and psychotic rage and a mob-mentality that makes him particularly dangerous in the underground scene right now. His voice has this hint of roughness, and an accent that places him right amongst the genres most revered figures, clearly having studied some of the greats before him. He actually includes a lot of his closest analogues on this tape, from the gravelly-voiced Vinnie Paz to the insane Ill Bill. Verbal Kent, Ali’s partner in crime whenever they teamed up for the Dueling Expert LP from earlier this year, also makes an amazing appearance, giving completely different vibes from their previous work. Add in a tidal wave of features from the likes of Planet Asia, Napoleon Da Legend, and Ruste Juxx, and the heavyweight power that has come to bulk up this record is nothing short of astounding. Big ups to the entire production team on this album as well: Vago, Brisk Fingaz, Hobgoblin, and especially C-Lance. A project that promises both quality AND quality, this needs to be in your library. Support my man over on Bandcamp.
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NCL-Døøfus – Hoodrat Noir
Investment: $12.00
One of the strangest projects I’ve heard so far this year, both instrumentally and in terms of how the emcee approaches these beats. Døøf (the rapper half of this duo), hailing from Richmond, Virginia, is a supremely weird cat: he has this disinterested yet sinister feel to his voice, sounding like a debauched version of MF DOOM and Earl Sweatshirt, but with a much more gutter and slimy feel to him. He sounds a lot like Da$h, which is probably why I’m so accepting of his eccentricities as a rapper, where, while there’s no supreme lyrical skill or anything like that, his character is entertaining and convincing. The tracks on this project are extremely short, with only a handful reaching over the two-minute mark, so Døøf mostly sticks to loose associative wordplay that doesn’t really make much sense on the surface, floating between ideas very fluidly. I think there is a market growing for the sound that Døøf has presented here, and I’m here for all of it, weirdness and all. NCL-TM makes this album something special, having this production style that is so hazy and mysterious; sample choices on here range from dejected horn and piano phrases, lions roars, and other instruments that are *entirely* out of tune. This shit sounds like we’re walking through one of Madlib’s nightmares, where things just aren’t quite right but you just can’t put your finger on what, an uncanniness in hip-hop that I have never heard before. This album is incredibly unique, building upon and reveling in it’s uniqueness for the entire 20 minute runtime. All of you Madvillainy fan will dig the fuck out of this, as well as anyone who can fuck with producers like Madlib and Flying Lotus.
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Flee Lord & 38 Spesh – Loyalty + Trust II
Investment: $11.99
In comparison to the original Loyalty & Trust that was released almost exactly a year ago, I think this new project is much better. That project was where I first started to see 38’s talents behind the boards shine, with his sample choices becoming bolder and more unique, justifiable repping the “less is more” motto. In that long year Spesh has honed his skills, and the beats here are all the better for it: whether it’s his smooth cinematic cuts like Five On Us and Lords and Gods, that hit you with the solid basslines, or it’s the immaculate vocal chops on Aunty and Still Trapped, you get a variety and potency that I have had yet to see from 38. There’s only 9 tracks, and I’m glad that he put his best foot forward on this one and gave 9 of his best beats. There’s even time devoted to some quality features: a hook from G4 JAG, a sequel-track to the original Both Views with Che Noir, and a stunningly sharp verse from the late Fred The Godson (we really lost a of a treasure of an emcee… fuck) Flee Lord is doing what he has always done: be himself with success. This is his 15th project in almost as many months, and, at this point, if you aren’t down with the Lord Looooord train, then you probably never will be. This project is definitely near the top in terms of quality releases from Flee this year, but I’m sure that ranking will change; the man literally has another album dropping tonight, the absolute-fucking madman is a tyrant of output. Griselda fans need to stop what they’re doing and get hip to this guy, because he’s right up your alley.
Buckwild just recently put out a tape that was very similar to this one here: lots of features and quality boom-bap beats. While I liked Fully Loaded, I felt like there was something missing from the album, like a certain amount of energy that couldn’t push the album into something greater. This new project is longer, features an entirely new cast of characters to support him (except for Rim Da Villin, he makes another appearance on this tape too), and I feel like the beats are more tailored to the emcees that are rapping over them. You aren’t going to get a better picture of 90’s boom-bap than from someone who was there when it was invented (and played a very large part in popularizing it), and Buckwild shows that his skills have not dulled over the past 25 years; great flips, chops, and drums are found on every track here. But I’d say three-fourths of the appeal here lies with the guests, and you get some bang for your buck (again, pun intended) on this one: Daniel Son, Planet Asia, Hus Kingpin, Bub Rock, Ransom, and a verse from none other than Fred The Godson grace this project, and the results are about what you would expect from these emcees trying their hardest for one of hip-hops mythical figures. That first track in particular, with Fred, Axel Leon, Reef Hustle, and David Bars is a fucking rap-fest, full of head-turning wordplay that will satisfying even the oldest of old-heads. If you’re stuck in the 90’s, get stuck in this album.
Spotify/YouTube/Apple Music
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Emilio Craig & iamT2 – Robbery At Blockbuster
Investment: $20.00
A close associate with The Musalini, Emilio Craig operates in a similar lane to his close collaborator: his voice is a dexterous monotone, flipping over the beats and through the pocket with enough energy to complete the rhymes, but little left over the vary his voice beyond the disinterested drawl. These aren’t necessarily bad things, as Craig is going for this “give no fucks” boss don sort of vibe to himself, and his careless and aloof approach to rapping enhance this character. He hits upon a lot of different subjects, but it’s mostly a sort of stream of conscious deluge of words and topics, much like Ghostface Killah is want to do. The short lengths of the tracks give strength to his delivery, being little bite sized blasts of words, easily digestible before the instrumental switches up. Speaking of the beats, iamT2 does a great job coming through with great sample flips, especially his work when flipping a complex vocal sample.; big props for those difficult feats. Tracks like Bank Tellers and Mi Viejo tell me that T2’s skills behind the boards need to be known amongst the hip-hop community, as I had only heard his name on time on a Ty Da Dale project before this one here. The features are great cherries on top of this project, with G4 JAG, Rome Streetz, and two appearances from The Musalini breaking up the album with even more quality material. If you like care-free and smooth hip-hop, very city-like and sample-based, give this a shot.
Spotify/Apple Music
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