Weekly Fix #43 ('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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We have a LOT of content to go over this week, so I’ll cut the bullshit and get right to it.

Again, the UK is having a killer week: D Double E and Gorillaz both dropped solid and long-awaited projects. Gucci Mane and T.I. both dropped albums last week that I totally dropped the ball on in Week #42 (’20), so I’m here to do them justice here this week. As for those underground albums, we got a bombshell this week: DJ Muggs and al.divino’s Kilogram, currently only found on their website, but worth every single penny you’ll spend for it. Ru$h (another holdout from last week because I’m a dumbass), Chuck Strangers, and this group called Revenge Of The Truence that I discovered this past week round out those more street-level projects.

There were also a couple of extremely good singles that came out last week: Jack Harlow, Flipp Dinero, Sada Baby, and Lil Yachty all come through with amazingly catchy singles, so don’t forget to go back and check out that Singles post for Week #43 (’20) if you haven’t already.

Next week we have some solid releases to look forward to: we got a new Busta Rhymes album, more UK with Nafe Smallz and M Huncho, Ill Bill, ELUCID, Eto & Flee Lord, and 38 Spesh to look forward to. Keep tabs on all of these exciting releases over on my Upcoming Heat page, where you can look at projects coming in the near future using a nifty calendar.

Here’s a link to the Week #43 (’20) Playlists

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Here’s a link to the Week #43 (‘20) Singles

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Here’s a link to the Week #43 (’20) Art Appreciation post

-----STREAMING PROJECTS-----

D Double E – Double or Nothing

Cover Artist: Kenny McCracken & LGD Design And Art

Another high-quality UK release from a legend of the Grime genre. I will admit that I liked Frisco’s album from the other week more, but I think Dee’s album is much more unique and bizarre of a project. A lot of that uniqueness comes from the one-of-a-kind delivery and vocal tone that D Double E brings on the microphone; the accent is heavy as a motherfucker with this guy (I don’t know what part of London this cat is from), which makes his flow very makeshift and ramshackle on every track you hear him on. For some of y’all, you might genuinely have trouble understanding what this man says, and I get it, it’s a lot to take in, but once you get past that hurdle, you can experience funny, clever, and aggressive rhymes. All of this is laid over beats that run through a spectrum of early-Grime cuts and some more modern-sounding Pop-rap/trap/drill production styles, a lot like how Frisco did on The Familiar Stranger with maybe a bit more of a slant towards the newer sounds. The features on here reinforce his influence in the game, getting emcees like JME, Ghetts, Giggs, and Kano to lend their voices to bringing back Grime again in a way that hasn’t been seen in a minute. Give this album a shot if you want to hear some very faithful deep-genre cuts from the ends of London.

Spotify/YouTube/Apple Music

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Gucci Mane – So Icy Gang, Vol. 1

Cover Artist: [Unknown]

I was so ready to write this off as a nothing-burger, I’m going to be real with everyone reading here. It’s difficult for an artist to come out with a tape trying to expose a new artist to the world: I think back to the similar album 2 Chainz dropped earlier this year with his new crew that he’s pushing, and while they’re all competent rappers, there was nothing really grabbing my attention like that. To make this even worse of a starting position, Gucci is coming with like *six* new cats, which is a lot to wrap my head around as a number to try and sus out the different styles of each one to write about (and I still haven’t got everyone down; I couldn’t tell you if it was Foogiano or Pooh Shiesty rapping in the moment). ALL OF THAT BEING SAID, this project, compilation album really, surprised me with it’s no-nosense, clearly well-groomed, and fantastically produced end result, and has most of these artists on my radar going forward. Gucci is on most of the tracks here, yes, but he really lets his artists take center stage on almost every song, giving this project a clear “passing the torch” feel to it, like Gucci has actually chosen this group to succeed him in the streets rather than picking seven randos off the street to make a quick buck. Foogiano, Pooh, and Scarr all have that heavy Gucci influence that gives me the same vibes but with some updated tones (think Moneybagg Yo). K Shiday and Enchanting bring the heat in the female department, with the aggression and cutthroatness that adds so much to the group dynamic. Hell, even Roboy, who is the sole vocalist/melody guy of the group, can come through and lay down that glue of a hook to keep this loose group together. Big ups to the beats on here as well, with some crazy samples, fat drums, and killer instrumental melodies that really are the best of the best that Gucci could find. A very impressive showing from the new faces of ATL trap music, one that has me looking forward to the future of the genre.

Spotify/YouTube/Apple Music

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DeJ Loaf – Sell Sole II

Cover Artist: [Unknown]

I’ve never dived into a DeJ Loaf project before this one (I guess she’s had some label trouble in the past preventing her from releasing in such a grand manner), and after having recently heard her again on Conway’s last project I was wondering how she would capitalize on that new exposure. Enter in Sell Sole II, which is a varied and defining body of work from the singer/rapper, full of great club cuts, deeper more personal material, bangers, and KILLER collaborations from some of the best in the industry at the moment. DeJ’s voice is one that I can’t get enough of: it’s warbly, frail, but it holds in a lot of pain and emotion, like she’s trying to hold back from crying at any one moment. The rapping (which she does quite a lot of on this album) can be compared to someone like Rihanna for sure, but with that unique voice I think anything she does has a distinctness to it that you can only apply to her. In case you didn’t know how Detroit DeJ Loaf is, take a look at this fuckin’ tracklist: you got Big Sean and Boldy James, two of the city’s best lyrists, but in case you needed that extra mile this woman got Sada Baby and 42 Dugg on the same track together, pretty much the most Detroit thing you could do in 2020. ON TOP of that, you get Rick Ross, 6LACK, the Griselda crew, and fuckin’ Lil Uzi Vert, all on one album; I have to say, at least on paper, this is the one of the most insane feature list I’ve seen this year. The beats are clean and processed, serving more as canvases for Loaf to lay her stories down upon rather than anything that will reach up and grab your attention too much, but that’s not to say there aren’t moments: Cross that Line, Get Money, and especially Open Hand stick out to me as supremely sticky. I wasn’t expecting to fuck with this as much as a do, but anyone who’s looking for some confessional and relatable pop-rap/R&B with some real situations and stories, needs to give this a listen.

Spotify/YouTube/Apple Music

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T.I. – The L.I.B.R.A.

Cover Artist: DL Warfield

Along with the Gucci album, this is a project that I fully expected to skip last week. I should have learned from the last T.I. album whenever I did the exact same shit only to find out that the project in question (Dime Trap) was actually incredibly solid. The L.I.B.R.A. is even more solid than that project, improving in pretty much every way from his last effort: the more introspective cuts hit that much harder, the modern beat selection is on point for someone who has been in the game for so long, and the feature game on this motherfucker literally could not have been better. An album that includes Benny and Conway, Snoop Dogg, Young Thug and Lil Baby, 21 Savage, Killer Mike, John Legend, and god the list just goes on and on and on; he’s almost letting these artists sort of speak in his place in a way, taking the microphone whenever he feels like he has something to say, like he knows how important his voice has been but prefers to let these younger artists and fellow legends speak their piece. It’s such a refreshing look from someone of his stature, not trying to chase the sounds and feeling one step behind but rather being on top and selectively incorporating the styles that work for him. It is a very long album, which is probably my only negative, but at the very least all of the tracks here are good, with almost every one having an entertaining guest. Give this shit a listen if you just want some consistently good music.

Spotify/YouTube/Apple Music

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Joyner Lucas – Evolution

Cover Artist: [Unknown]

Another artist who seems to bloom whenever he’s not kowtowing to the voices of the internet: “make fast rap”, “rap about how shit the rap game is today”, “make… whatever I’m Not Racist was again”. By ignoring these elements of the internet and rapping about things that truly matter to himself and most people, we get the best project that Joyner has put out so far, point blank, period. He raps about how he himself as an artist has grown, how his family and friends have changed up in the face of his fame, and how, despite all of the money and recent experiences as a father himself, he can’t bridge that gap with his own father. On This Way and Like a River are two very special tracks, sparking genuine emotion in the ways he sort of hopelessly lists the faults in his life, heartbreaking that the things that have made his life so special can also take away that humanity. His raps are still technical and lyrical, but he slows the speed down significantly in service to the clarity of the music, a decision that I think so many people in his lane can take some notes on. If there is one enormous, glaring flaw to this record, it is the god-damn-fucking-awful skits that he includes on this thing: the project is framed as a sort of “day at school” scene in a movie, but oh my lord the acting is atrocious, so so so campy and corny. Still, this is an incredibly good project, and a great place to reintroduce yourself to Joyner if you jumped ship after he got “lyrical miracle” on us.

Spotify/YouTube/Apple Music

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KXNG Crooked – Flag

Cover Artist: [Unknown]

There’s something DIY and down-to-earth about Crook projects that always manage to leave me wanting more from them. I don’t know if it’s the lack of features, the shortness, or the beat selection, but I always come away thinking “the next one is gonna be crazy”. This one isn’t really that blockbuster album I’ve been looking for, but the thing about a KXNG Cooked project is that the strength of the lyrics will always, ALWAYS have you coming back. Whenever all else fails, his focused subject matter, great storytelling, and impeccable wordplay is among the absolute best in the genre, and his blend of emotional and banger tracks is to be appreciated. Still Regulating and OkYouFeelinDat! are barbaric lyrical assaults on your headcase, but it’s the tracks You Was Supposed To and Teenaged Killer that hit the heart hard. The former is a full-fledged ode to the Tamir Rice, the young kid who was murdered in cold blood by Cleveland cops; once you realize who he’s rapping about, I couldn’t help but get that tear in my eye, a beautiful tribute. Teenaged Killer is an amazingly detailed story about a child growing up on the streets, following in the footsteps of so many of the gang-entrapped youth. The kid has a family, brothers who’s done time, has lost his innocence, and eventually looses his life to the police at a young age; Crook is rapping from the kid’s perspective the entire time in these pitched-up vocals, his story structured perfectly to engage the listener. The strength of the individual tracks make the whole much stronger than it may seem on the surface, so give this one a shot if you want some good examples of how to MAKE a hip-hop track.

Spotify/YouTube/Apple Music

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Ty Dolla $ign – Featuring Ty Dolla $ign

Cover Artist: [Unknown]

Alright, there’s like a billion tracks on here, and where normally I would be dreading listening to a 24 track album from damn-near anyone, I had the consolation on Ty’s newest project that virtually every song on here has a guest or two (that’s the whole gimmick behind the “featuring Ty Dolla $ign” album title). All of the different collaborations work well, but there are some that rise above the rest as some really enlightened material. Lift Me Up with Future and Thugger could have easily been on Super Slimey, the chemistry between the three and that fucking beat being spot-on. Young Thug shows up again on Dr. Sebi (which is a solo track for Thug, a weird choice given that it leads sonically into the next track Powder Blue), being another bright spot. Track 6 with Kanye West, Anderson .Paak, and Thundercat is a huge highlight, with the multiple phase track being executed with style, the back half being particularly groovy with those Thundercat instrumentals. Your Turn is my favorite track here, with great vocal performances from everyone involved (6LACK among them), and a beat that takes me back to the Free TC days. There’s a lot to digest on this album, but I think it’s worth a run through to save the tracks that really stick out to you. If you like pop-rap with a melodic emphasis, this will scratch that itch.

Spotify/YouTube/Apple Music

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Yak Gotti – Gotti Outta Here

Cover Artist: cptbucket

When it comes to YSL artists, you pretty much know what you’re getting when you put the album on. Loose and slurred deliveries, bars about drugs and fashion, and beats that are either standard-fare modern bleached trap music or amazing feats of brilliance from the likes of Wheezy or Turbo. Let’s talk about that first, because some of the beats on here are the best parts of this album: In the Coupe, Lemonade, and Rock Solid are three amazing Turbo beats, and that ViKO Marley beat on Slatt Walk is peak slime music, crazy instrumental melodies on these tracks. Otherwise, you’re getting about what you would expect from a release like this: low key, minimal, and clean pop-trap music. As a rapper, Yak also operates in a lot of the same spheres as his contemporaries, where sometimes you’d get some Gunna, other times a Thugger, Lil Keed, or Lil Gotit (all of these guys coincidentally, minus Thug, show up as features), so if you fuck with any of those guys there’s no reason why you wouldn’t be able to get into this. Give this a shot if you want something to throw on in the background while you’re cleaning the house or something, no frills, no concentration required.

Spotify/YouTube/Apple Music

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Gorillaz – Song Machine, Season One: Strange Timez

Cover Artist: hewll

I’ll be real, a lot of the material on the album isn’t for me. That’s not to say that a lot of it is “bad”, it just falls out of my hip-hop wheelhouse and doesn’t pique my interest as well, sticking more to soft-rock or indie territories. But that’s the thing about this new LP from the long-running digital band: it doesn’t play as an album as much as it is a compilation of collaborative material with a ton of artists the group has never worked with before. Significant UK talent appears on here, from the Grime legends Kano and Skepta, to rising punk-star slowthai, and all the way up to Sir Elton-fucking-John, who’s appearance on this album is not only stellar, but it’s mixed with none other than 6LACK, a pairing that works SO much better than you would think. Goldlink, ScHoolboy Q, Beck, and JPEGMAFIA all join the list for unlikely guests, but their tracks go over so well, and they try so hard to mesh with the Gorillaz sound that it leaves me genuinely surprised; hell, Peggy barely sounds like the JPEG we know so well, sounding… happy? The production is as cute and understated as usual, with moments like Strange Timez getting more cerebral and spacy. Even though I didn’t save every track off of this thing, there was a lot to love about it, and I think anyone out there who is a music lover will find a handful of tracks on here that will satisfy their cravings, being a varied and jack-of-all-trades kind of project. My favorite Gorillaz release in a minute.

Spotify/YouTube/Apple Music

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-------SOUP’S HOT DEALS-------

DJ Muggs & al.divino – Kilogram

Investment: $25.00

Cover Artist: al.divino

In comparison to previous years, Muggs has had an eerily quiet 2020. Coming off of a run of projects with Mach-Hommy, Tha God Fahim, Eto, and Roc Marciano, it seemed like he was a freight train not looking to stop any time soon. But after that last Fahim project Dump Assassins, he took a significant amount of time off, and returns here at the end of 2020 to drop his most harrowing and cold-hearted project since Hells Roof (surpassing that project at times). DJ Muggs’ brilliance as a producer is his unmatched ability to imbue his beats with pure evil: where most guys would loop a spooky sample with some fuzz and call it a day, Muggs will dominate the space with an insurmountable wall of guitar scuzz, a symphony of disgusting horns, or a eclectic collage of snares and samples. It’s disorienting in the best of ways, but there is that framework, a rough framework, of a boom-bap beat in there somewhere, and it takes a rapper like al.divino to literally excavate that pocket out of the dirt. divino is in top form on this project, no question, I might even say this is my favorite project from the guy, and it all boils down to how the instrumentals mesh perfectly with his raspy, yelled, and vulgar delivery. His vocals on here consistently sound drowned in the beats, under layers of static and haze, like an angry animal clawing its way out of a HAM radio, an aesthetic that fits his rap persona in every way possible. There are only two features, Estee Nack and RLX, and they both do well on their tracks, but it’s hard to keep up with the deep synergy that divino and Muggs have on here (Nack’s track is actually a solo track sans divino, maybe telegraphing where Muggs in going next in terms of collaborations?). Muggs has been sorely missed in 2020, but Kilogram makes up for that hiatus and so much more. Bad news however: every single pressing of this album has sold out… so you gotta go drop the 25 dollars for a digital download cause this shit isn’t on streaming (and likely won’t be for a very long time). But goddamn is it worth it.

==> DJ Muggs' Official Website <==

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Chuck Strangers – Too Afraid to Dance

Investment: $15.00

Cover Artist: [Unknown]

Chuck has been quiet for a solid-ass minute; Consumer’s Park was one of my favorite albums of 2018, but besides a couple loose songs and a handful of solid feature placements, the man has been eerily quiet. In that sense, the only disappointment I have with this new project is that it’s criminally short, 8 tracks coming in at 15 minutes, and a lot of time on here is used for both atmosphere building and guest spots. It seems like Strangers has taken a lot of cues from the various scenes that have exploded since his last foray into full projects: distant and faded experimental hip-hop like MIKE and Pink Siifu, production coming out of Richmond (Graymatter in particular, who did work on the first few tracks here), and the esoteric and cryptic word choices from the likes of Ka and Earl Sweatshirt. All of this isn’t to say that Chuck Stranger is behind the curve; Consumer’s Park was headed in the direction of what we find here for sure, and his influence as a producer I’m sure has it’s ripples found in these scenes. All in all, as much as I love this project, it leaves me wanting a full-length from him more than anything, a taster of where I think he should be going. Listen to this if you like any of those artists I mentioned, Fly Anakin, or Navy Blue (who also makes an appearance here). Go buy this shit on his website y’all.

==> Chuck's Official Website <==

Spotify/YouTube/Apple Music

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Ru$h – Fendi Don

Investment: $10.19

Cover Artist: FKRO

Deleware is just cranking out emcees that have a crazy talent for emulating lavishness and wealth, concentrated luxury rap that hasn’t been seen since the days of Roc Marciano (which is still today). Marci is actually a great place to start whenever comparing Ru$h to an established sound, as he has a lot of the same flow choices and mannerisms as the legendary Brownsville emcee; it’s not at all biting, but a clear inspiration. As an emcee, Ru$h is incredibly entertaining, having this unyieldingly confident bravado to his delivery, oozing swag in evert bar he spits; he knows how talented he is, he knows how rich he is, he knows how it looks to be flashing your jewelry and showing off your new Porche, but he doesn’t care, because fuck you. The beats are what you would expect from this scene: high-class, silky smooth instrumentals that utilize things like saxaphones and pianos, like some Yachty-faring music. I think what really separates this out from some of the other albums that have come from Delaware is the reliance on sung hooks from his features, often coming across like some old-school R&B tracks. You get the usual suspects like Jay NiCE and Tha God Fahim, but most of the other features on fire with the melodies, giving this regal and refined since to an already clean listening experience. Keep this project in mind when you want to feel much richer than you actually are.

Spotify/YouTube/Apple Music

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Revenge Of The Truence – Slims 2

Investment: $20.00

Cover Artist: Deadly Album Covers

This is one of those albums (for those of you who didn’t read my Art Appreciation this week) that probably never would have crossed my path had it not been for that album cover. I wrote about how much I love that cover, and once I got into the actual music, I felt like I had uncovered some hidden gold. Here’s what we got here: Revenge Of The Truence (or R.O.T.) is a rap duo from NYC, made up of two very different voices, MuGGz and Tay Dayne. MuGGz has this very loose and erratic flow, cramming words and alliteration into tightly packed bars, with a husky and loud vocal delivery; he reminds me of like a Chino-XL-type figure, very wordy and looking at things from a birds-eye view. Dayne on the other hand is a much more street level, grimy, and paced rapper, taking his time to lay his rhymes like landmines. He gives me some Lord Juco vibes in his delivery, slower and more deliberate in his wordplay but still able to come through with some real gems. I think what really got me hooked with this project are some of these beats: some can get a bit spacious, but a couple hit these crazy samples over the head in amazing fashion. The whole thing is produced by a guy named King David Beatz, and I’ve got to give him props for two beats in particular: Beyond the Grave and Baptized. I’m not gonna spoil these beats for anyone by trying to describe them, but just know they are some of the best loops I’ve heard this year. I’m always ready to be surprised by quality hip-hop, and this one really hit all of the right buttons for me. Give this a shot if you like that old-soul New York music, full of solid bars and spectacular beats.

Spotify/YouTube/Apple Music

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clipping – Visions of Bodies Being Burned

Investment: $10.00

Cover Artist: Myra Dingley

So clipping.’s last album, There Existed an Addiction to Blood was an album that I didn’t really get. There were a few standouts, but the stuff like the piano burning for 20 minutes was just not my aesthetic. The EP they released shortly after did a lot more for me, being more of a pure rap-piece that was a sort of story-thing about an underwater kingdom or something on some Lupe Fiasco shit; weird, but I loved it. This new project here (which is a direct sequel in both tone and theme to their last album) see the group going back to a lot of those horrorcore, terrifying industrial/noise themes, and old horror movie soundtrack motifs to create a album that, in my opinion, is much more straight forward in its approach. It’s still batshit insane with the static walls, distorted synths and bass, beats that contain nothing but strained violin notes, vocals that sound like they are being passed through the Bluetooth speaker on your Samsung refrigerator, and song topics that revolve around campy movie monsters and killing college kids; that being said, I think that the thing that make clipping. such a unique outfit fits the themes much more snugly than it did on their last project. Tracks like ’96 Neve Campbell, Check the Lock, and She Bad are all about horror, but they are still firmly rooted in hip-hop. If you’re looking for a truly challenging audio experience, then this is the project for you.

Spotify/YouTube/Apple Music

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