Weekly Fix #4 ('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.

You know who really came through this week? All of you Canadians and Brits out there, with a majority of my projects list comprising of artists from Canada (Toronto specifically) and the UK. Many more singles out this week as well from some big places, and a great mix of underground artists and big names. Overall an unexpectedly good week given that I didn’t really have anything on my radar going into it. I’m unofficially naming this Toronto Week, and with my next two write-ups, you’ll see why…

Next week is the week that I’ve been looking forward to, and on into February there is a *stacked* list of shit coming out. Next week we’re looking at Tha God Fahim, Guilty Simpson, and Lil Wayne even just announced he would be dropping Funeral next Friday as well (we’ll see if it’s a full length tho). February got interesting as well, with The Alchemist and Boldy James announcing their album on the 7th, Royce da 5’9”’s The Allegory on the 21st, and an RJ Payne tape by the end of the month. So yeah, overall I’m looking to eat in the next 30 days, and y’all should be looking to eat too. Come take a look at the calendar of upcoming shit over on my Upcoming Heat page.

Finally I’d like to give a shoutout to everyone who supported my shit this past week. All Hail Y.T. cosigning my write-up of his (and Tone Beatz’) album The Spoils of Babylon last week was a big plus; I appreciate the kind words brother. Also to my guy Chris Skillz who gave me some inspiration, because at the end of the day it’s not so much about getting recognized as it is about helping and exposing this culture to more ears. Peace to both of you guys, and keep up the great projects.

Here’s a link to the Week #4 Playlist (’20) for y’all

-----PROJECTS-----

For Juco – For Juco

Last fall Lord Juco was in a serious car accident, and while he’s made progress towards recovery, physical therapy is a bitch that costs money. Artists from the underground sphere have banded together to create a sort of charity tape to raise money for his medical bills, people like Daniel Son, Jamal Gasol, Rome Streetz, Bozack Morris, and, of course, Cousin Feo. It’s a short project, and the music is dark and dusty as your would expect, with Feo being the star of the show to me. I’m going to link this because I want you to buy this project to support my guy Juco. I hope you make a speedy recovery brother; this hip-hop shit is behind you 100%.

Recommended if you like: being a good person, helping a brother in need, giving back to these artists that give so much of themselves to us with their music

Bandcamp

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M Huncho – Huncholini the 1st

Imagine like a British Travis Scott, maybe not with as much range as Travis but his instrumental choices and heavy uses of melodic autotune reminiscent of albums like Birds in the Trap. Lots of speedy and silky pop-rap flows, great beats that are best with the high BPMs and amazing instrumental melodies, and features from some of the biggest names in in UK Hip-Hop/R&B right now. I think there’s a good team behind this guy: writers, producers, management, etc., and M Huncho has the opportunity to really shake up the UK game right now like Travis Scott did over here in America.

Recommended if you like: Lil Baby, good use of autotune, J Hus, smooth and fast flows, Dave, great melodies, shorter project and song lengths, Travis Scott, nice spread of features

Spotify/YouTube/Apple Music

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Leaf Dog – Live From The Balrog Chamber

I’m seeing some serious DJ Premier looping styles here from Leaf Dog, who produces the entirety of this 18 track trip to the 90’s. No bullshit head-nodding shit right here, with quality grooves and slaps, and those inventive chops that I’ve come to expect from him by now. Leaf Dog as a rapper relies a lot more on his strange voice and deliveries than just raw lyricism, but whenever you think “I’d like a feature right now” one shows up with people like Grand Puba, labelmate and longtime collaborator BVA, and even Havoc of Mobb Deep. Most songs range within the 2:30 – 3:00 runtime, so it’s easy to listen to as well as being fire. Just a very solid piece of Golden Age inspired UK Hip-Hop from one of it’s most long-lived voices.

Recommended if you like: sample-based production, DJ Premier, dusty-ass drums, Gang Starr, watery British accents, Heltah Skeltah, self-produced albums, Boot Camp Klik, irreverent and funny lyrics, Westside Gunn, Danny Brown, 80’s inspired rhyme schemes, The Four Owls

Spotify/YouTube/Apple Music

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Vago & Asun Eastwood – Sewer Science

Clean, cinematic, and vintage underground hip-hop right here. I wouldn’t call it dusty as much as inspired by old soundtracks and movies, like Only Built 4 Cuban Linx but smoother and more refined. Vago comes with strings, horns, slower beats that bathe in a mysterious darkness; basically the perfect setting for Asun to yell his stories at us. I’m liking Eastwood’s no-fucks-given attitude in his raps, with his labored spitting giving heft behind the mafiaso stories he tells. A great addition to Toronto’s deep hip-hop scene.

Recommended if you like: older cinematic production, RZA, raps in Spanish/English, Sean Price, horn and string samples, Daniel Son, clean and booming drums, great rhyme schemes, Eto, lots of good features

Spotify/YouTube/Apple Music

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Fredrarrii – Perfect Timing

It’s nothing we haven’t heard before: melodic trap rapping, a little more emphasis put on the rapper part of it. It seems like this dude has a good team behind him with the processing effects and some well-written hooks, so I can see him getting bigger. While I don’t think any of these tracks are going to be a hit, I think that he has potential to get bigger in the lanes of people like YoungBoy NBA or Kodak Black. The production is very grand, with lots of layers of pianos and hi-hats, sometimes getting a bit somber. I’m liking the shorter length, just something to throw on during a short ride.

Recommended if you like: flashy pop-trap, Stunna 4 Vegas, mix of straight rap and melody, Lex Luger, solid hooks, Waka Flocka Flame, great feature placements, Rich The Kid, short projects, Don Toliver

Spotify/YouTube/Apple Music

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Flashius Clayton & DirtyDiggs – 8 Diagram Polo Fighter

Clayton is a solid emcee, and definitely works best over DirtyDiggs production, so I was prepared to love this project. These are some of the most experimental beats I’ve heard DirtyDiggs come out with, and while I wouldn’t say I think they’re bad, they’re just a bit different. Like, I’m pretty sure that’s a looped seagull on Gundam Dungeon, and while I applaud the inventiveness, I just can’t listen to the track like that, you feel me? But yeah I love the shortness, it’s just 12 minutes, eight 1:30-ish tracks (except for the one with Big Kahuna, big ups to him) that provide for a brief listen when you need that fix of smooth shit (except for the seagull).

Recommended if you like: Tristate, smooth and inventive hip-hop, Planet Asia, very short tracks, Koncept Jack$on, odd and unorthodox sampling, Greymatter, 90’s emcees, Sadhugold

YouTube/Bandcamp

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Sonnyjim & Giallo Point – No Vi$ible Means Of Income

While I was familiar with Giallo Point’s work, Sonnyjim was a new one to me, but his style is one that I’ve been seeing a lot of lately. Monotone, dry, and smooth UK Hip-Hop, a whole scene of people who vocally take many of their cues from people like Quelle Chris and Vic Spencer, but spice up their production with slightly harder and more concrete hip-hop. The cryptic lyrics are here in spades, and it’ll take a minute for me to decipher exactly what’s going on here. It’s different from your usual stuff you’d find over in America, and it’s a scene I look forward to diving into a bit more.

Recommended if you like: monotone emcees, Quelle Chris, lethargic and sleepy rapping, billy woods, Juga-Naut, minimal and sample based production, Lord Juco, short tracks, Vic Spencer, grey atmosphere, Stu Bangas

YouTube/Bandcamp

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Joey Trap – Wild West

These beats are super detailed, slower than usual trap, but they provide a great pocket for these quick and nimble flows from Joey. Great song concepts with a Wild West feel with cowboys (but not on some Old Town Road shit), creates a great sense of cohesiveness amongst this short album. Also, these hooks are really good, and I think this kid has a great team of writers behind him. All of this reminds me a bit of like a well-tuned and refined Rich Forever rap, but I think Joey Trap is more lyrically dexterous than a lot of people in that scene. Great trap album.

Recommended if you like: quirky and punchy trap music, Jay Critch, guitars and other western instruments, YBN Almighty Jay, good sense of character and topic, YBN Nahmir, triplet flows, 6LACK, fantastic hooks

Spotify/YouTube/Apple Music

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Kota the Friend – Lyrics to Go, Vol. 1

I like where this project was in concept, but I wish there could have been a bit more time put into building the tracks out with hooks and features. Kota is soft-spoken and confessional much of the time, and I think if you threw some people like Ari Lennox, maybe get Statik Selektah to put some Haile Supreme, on this album it would have had a larger impact. Still, for a very short micro-album it packs emotion, wit, and great instrumentals into an easily digestible package. Listen while brushing your teeth kind of wholesome right here.

Recommended if you like: very short album, Amine, short and bite-sized tracks, Anoyd, personal bars, Chris Skillz, amateurish and underdog feek, Locksmith, smooth and jazzy production

Spotify/YouTube/Apple Music

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

Megan Thee Stallion – B.I.T.C.H.

I love this single, both as a remake of a classic hip-hop song and as a more in-depth and meaningful song in Megan Thee Stallions discography. She’s saying some real shit on here about the cultural validity of twerking, male/female dynamics, and how dudes can trip sometimes with their 2019 bullshit. The star of this track is the hook, which was deadass stuck in my head after one listen. That’s probably because that Tupac track is one of my favorites of his, and this track is a very faithful, yet modernized, take on a west-coast staple. If this is any indication of where she’s going on her next album, I am ready for great LP.

Recommended if you like: Tupac, west-coast vibes, DaBaby, R&B samples and hooks, Juicy J, super sticky and well made hooks, better than average trap lyricism, the dirty south, Gangsta Boo

Spotify/YouTube/Apple Music

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Wiz Khalifa, Ty Dolla $ign, Lil Yachty, & Sueco the Child – Speed Me Up

Damn son, this track from the upcoming Sonic the Hedgehog movie is actually pretty dope. Lil Yachty plays the role he was always meant to play as a cute and loveable soundtrack character, Wiz comes through with a pretty catchy hook, and Sueco and Ty, while their verses are way too fucking short, only add good things to a track that should have been trash. How many good hip-hop soundtracks are coming out nowadays? Seriously. Anyway, this one is a win in my book, and another step in erasing the terrible Sonic design from our memories.

Recommended if you like: melodic rapping, Lil Uzi Vert, 80’s inspired pop-rap beats, Daft Punk, video game references, autotune, Pharrell, 8-bit instrumentals, going fast, being blue, hedgehogs

Spotify/YouTube/Apple Music

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Hardo, Tay Keith, & Peewee Longway (Feat. Doe Boy) – Nothin To Me

I don’t know if I’ve ever heard Tay Keith rapping before this, but I’ll be damned if it’s not fire. The beat is a great trap banger, heavy Atlanta influence with those drums and 808’s. All three performers on here also kill their parts, but I’m not sure of this is a Tay/Peewee collabortive effort, a group album, Hardo solo album, or what. Whatever it turns out being, it had a great lead single, and has me hopeful for something Peewee Longway is associated with, something I haven’t said in a long time.

Recommended if you like: typical Atlanta trap beats, Gucci Mane, great chemistry between the performers, Young Thug, solid triplet flows, Young Jeezy, mix of animated and more serious emcees, Young Dolph, Young Scooter, Young (insert name here)

Spotify/YouTube/Apple Music

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Tyler, The Creator – GROUP B

This is that Cherry Bomb shit that I’ve been wanting from this motherfucker for a long-ass time. The dude can fucking rap, and this track shows that this skill in still in there sometimes. The lyrics might be nonsensical and juvenile on occasion, but the flows are on point, and the charisma is off the fucking charts. However, it’s the production that I’ve been missing from him the most, with GROUP B evoking that older, very provocative vocal chops that someone like Kanye would use, with tons of soul and warmth to it. I didn’t not like IGOR; I thought at the end of the day it was good, just not for me. But this is the Tyler I want more than anything, and I’ll be bumping this shit for a minute.

Recommended if you like: Kanye West, funny lyrics, The Alchemist, older Tyler, The Creator, great vocal samples, A$AP Rocky, abstract flows, MF DOOM

Spotify/YouTube/Apple Music

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Marlo (Feat. Future & Lil Baby) – 1st N 3rd

While this track bangs and slaps and all that let’s not pretend here: this is a Future track. I don’t know why in the world this is labeled as a Marlo track, who only does one verse on his own track, while Future has a verse, bridge, and does the entire hook. Semantics aside, everyone brings their A-games on here, with great triplet flows, great underlying melodies, and a crazy Dirty Sprite-esque beat from DY Krazy. Lil Baby in particular comes in (like he always does) with a well-written verse from a flow perspective. Looking forward to Marlo’s album this Valentine’s Day.

Recommended if you like: dense and banging trap, Future, detailed southern trap, Young Thug, triplet flows, Gucci Mane, great collaborative tracks, Lex Luger, drug talk, 808 Mafia, Atlanta rappers

Spotify/YouTube/Apple Music

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Tyler, The Creator – BEST INTEREST

Like Tyler says himself, this is a track that didn’t quite make it into the IGOR tracklist, and it definitely sounds like it. The first half is mostly his chipmunked singing that was all over that LP, while the second gives us a little rapping from the perspective of his character. Lyrically, talking about hiding love from people and keeping up facades; basically the same shit he was talking about on IGOR. Personally, I think this would have been one of the better tracks on IGOR if it was included, but I’m glad we’re at least getting a chance to listen to it at all.

Recommended if you like: mix of singing and rapping, The Neptunes, short songs, Solange, new Tyler, The Creator, cute and fuzzy neo-R&B, lyrically focused tracks

Spotify/YouTube/Apple Music

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Reason – Show Stop

Dammit Kendrick, quit playing with me like this! You show up on J. Cole’s shit as adlibs, and now you’re here on a song with your own label homie with adlibs only? Is your next album (which I guess is rock inspired?) just going to be all adlibs on some DJ Khaled shit? Just distant yelling in the background? ANYWAY, this track is pretty alright, with a banging beat that sounds like it would have been on that Black Panther soundtrack. Reason is a charismatic emcee, with a cool drawl and an alright flow, but his skill at crafting a good hook is what is keeping me coming back to his tracks. They’re all earworms, what can I say. But yeah, he has some big shoes to fill now that Black Hippy is just, like, not dropping anything. Or Isaiah Rashad. Or SZA. Hey but we got that SiR album let’s look on the bright side.

Recommended if you like: Kendrick Lamar yelling at you from another room, cavernous trap music, Ab-Soul, lots of swag, CyHi tha Prynce, aggressive and slurred emcees, Vince Staples, solid hooks

Spotify/YouTube/Apple Music

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Jay Worthy (Feat. Pressa) – Off the Shits

Jay Worthy on some other production is a treat, because the Cardo beat here is even more stereotypically west-coast then usual. Everything about is screams “The Bay” in the best way, with a minimal and slick synth banger working exceptionally well with Jay’s (and Pressa’s for his part) style. Yeah there’s not much else to say, this is just very confident and authentic west-coast music, part of this wider appreciation for the art that I’ve been seeing more over the past few years.

Recommended if you like: G-Funk, E-40, tinny synths, Nef the Pharaoh, Bay Area, SOBxRBE, gangsta rap lyrics, Dr. Dre, odd and nasally voices, Mozzy, great minimal beats

Spotify/YouTube/Apple Music

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Big Havi (Feat. Lil Baby) – 9 Times Out of 10

A great remix to a track that already had a fantastic hook. I didn’t write about it whenever it came out because I thought it needed a feature to really be great (I think I even said Lil Baby needed to be on this track), but now, with Baby on the track I think this shit needs to blow up. It has a great chorus at the center of it, catchy melody, and a standout and well-meshed feature from one of the biggest names in melodic trap. There’s definitely more fiery flows and lyricism than someone like YoungBoy could come up with, with both emcees here impressing me with their performances.

Recommended if you like: amazing instrumental melody, Young Thug, guitars in trap beats, Lil Durk, clean and slick drums, Polo G, melodic rapping, Quando Rondo, autotuned fast rapping, YK Osiris, emotional shit

Spotify/YouTube/Apple Music

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Yo Gotti – H.O.E. (Heaven On Earth)

Yo Gotti is great on this track, and I think the concept and lyrics of this track are good. But what the hell is this beat? This beat, deadass, sounds like it’s straight from Cassidy’s laptop. Awkward farty synths, and this completely out of place “Cruisin’ in my ‘64” metronome that plays incessantly throughout the entire track. Coming off of the past two Gotti singles, both of which have incredible beats, this honestly sounds like a joke. But I still got to give props to my man Gotti for being in the game so long and still coming out with fresh shit.

Recommended if you like: Cassidy, “so bad it’s good” beats, Gucci Mane, beats that do not bang, T.I., heavy southern accents, Young Jeezy, 21 Savage

Spotify/YouTube/Apple Music

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