Weekly Fix #45 ('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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Things slowed waaaaay down this week. While I loved all of the releases this week, I’m low-key glad the volume let up a little; it gave me time to relax, go back and enjoy some LP’s I’ve been wanting to revisit for a minute now. I had fun going through some Tupac again, Asun Eastwood, that Jay Royale project, and of course I had to give 36 Chambers another spin. I even got to watch a MOVIE, isn’t that crazy? It feels good to go back and relive some of these projects, but lets get back to the NEW SHIT.

We got a couple of gems this week in the projects department: this new Primo Profit is spectacular, NAV and Wheezy are a great pair, NLE Choppa turns a new leaf, and Jamal Gasol finds the perfect partner in Nes. The Singles still came with that volume, with great tracks from Vado, Kap G, JID (with Conway on the assist), 2 Chainz, and Backroad Gee rounding out another week of loose songs.

Next week should be another massive week if my projections are anything to go off of: supposedly Future & Lil Uzi have something for us, Aesop Rock is about to drop another dictionary on us, 2 Chainz is ready to drop again, Fly Anakin and Pink Siifu are about to drop a classic, AND Nicholas Craven & Ransom are dropping YET AGAIN. Get hyped for this shit, hip-hop firing on all cylinders next week from all angles. Check out my Upcoming Heat page to keep up with anything coming out.

Thank all of you who tap in every week to my posts here. I quite enjoy this shit if I do say so myself, and I hope y’all learn stuff and find new music while you’re here. Special shoutout to Asun Eastwood for being a top-quality human being.

Peace

Here’s a link to the Week #45 (’20) Playlists

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Here’s a link to the Week #45 (‘20) Singles

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Here’s a link to the Week #45 (’20) Art Appreciation post

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

NAV & Wheezy – Emergency Tsunami

Cover Artist: [Unknown]

I think I can say with absolute certainty that this is NAV’s best product to date, but it’s not a weight that he bears entirely on his own shoulders. Wheezy, the unbelievably consistent trap-producer who is here by way of Young Thug’s YSL affiliation, lends his might to every beat on this little mixtape/project/thing, and he spares none of his talents to make this a memorable project. Every beat is detailed, blissful and watery synths combined with snappy snares and liberal claps, feeling complete is ways that other producers in this new trap wave simply can’t touch (I’ll give Turbo a shoutout here for his talents too, but Wheezy really is an OG). While Wheezy does a LOT of lifting here, NAV is not without his moments, and comes with some really infectious flows, catchy hooks, and even the occasional truly funny bar; with that being said, a lot of his lyrics miiiight get some cringe going in you, but really that feeling is derived from his voice mixed with the lyrics, feeling childlike sometimes. For instance: SahBabii arguably says MUCH more ridiculous things in his verse… but it’s fire because his voice is fire. NAV doesn’t have that same pass, so while we may be harder on him, sometimes I feel like people are a bit unfair. Speaking of the features, we really got some special shit on this album: like I said, SahBabii murders his appearance here, leaving me wishing that the man did more guest spots more often. We also get amazing verses from Gunna and Lil Baby (Baby is a fucking machine on his verse, and that clapping lead-in had me dying), Young Thug of course has to make an appearance, and Lil Keed is a nice touch. I honestly think that this project might bring some people over the line into liking NAV, with a perfect mix of solid beats and curated tracks that feel like NAV operating at his peak. If you liked the most processed and digital of pop-trap, this will be for you.

Spotify/YouTube/Apple Music

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NLE Choppa – From Dark To Light

Cover Artist: lilsnorr

This is the project that I was the mist curious about going into this week because, for those of you not on social media, NLE’s public persona has completely changed over the past few months, aiming to be some sort of third-eye conscious, organic-eating, pineal gland…. squeezing? (I don’t know what they do with this gland to be honest with you), and meditating hip-hop guru. With the title of this album being what it is, I expected some changes to his style, not “bad” changes per say, just changes. Well, what From Dark To Light *isn’t* is a complete reversal of his style, but there are a couple of tracks on here that at least attempt to shake up the sounds. These tracks are mostly the more melodic ones, and while I’ve never been a fan of these kind of autotuned bangers that he comes with about 50% of the time nowadays, I give him props for the effort. The rest of this album, on the other and more familiar hand, is pretty much what you would expect from Choppa, right on down to the shooting and drug dealing. So, part of me is disappointed that there wasn’t a shift, but the other part is somewhat relieved that we get to continue listening to a murderous Choppa some more. He is just as aggressive and animalistic on these tracks as ever, and anyone who is looking for music to fight to need look no further. I’ve also got to give props to a specific track that doesn’t really fall into either camp, Picture Me Grapin’, which is a remix to Tupac’s classic Picture Me Rollin’ from the beat on up to the flow; he does surprisingly well over this west-coast riding anthem, hitting those same inflections with style. I would have liked to have seen more rapping and more features (although Big Sean really kills his shit), but this is a solid project to come out so soon after his debut. Give this a shot if you fuck with guys like Blac Youngsta, Lil Baby, and Lil Durk.

Spotify/YouTube/Apple Music

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Sosamann – Born to Drip

Cover Artist: [Unknown]

It’s difficult to place a “scene” that this guy is from geographically, almost impossible really given that his style can really only be compared to the other rappers in his lane. He’s located out of Houston, rolling with cats like Sauce Walka and Rizzoo Rizzoo, but he’s influences clearly lie in one person: HoodRich Pablo Juan. If Sosamann isn’t influenced by HoodRich, then it is one of the most amazing of coincidences that his flow, high-energy whisper flow, and drug/fashion/crime lyrics all sound like they come straight out of Juan’s playbook. All of that being said (and I’m not saying this is a bad thing), I do think that Sosamann does this schtick much better than HoodRich ever did, and as an added layer of potency in the spread of beats that he comes with. Danny Wolf and Juan were able to make some cohesive bangers together, but the beats on Born To Drip are consistently fire from front to back, and Sosamann attacks them in the same, but fire, way with every track. It’s nothing if not an album dedicated to an aesthetic, one that I can fuck with, but I can see some other people not really getting the appeal, which is fine. It’s not too serious, nothing intellectual: just fun and irreverent trap music. Listen to this if you like guys like Rich The Kid, Jay Critch, and the Migos.

Spotify/YouTube/Apple Music

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Slayter – WORLD GOT ME FUCKED UP, RELOADED

Cover Artist: [Unknown]

This is the deluxe version to an album that seems to have flown under my radar from earlier this year, and while I’m not really coming away from this album with a solid handle on who Slayter is as an artist, I can say there are some serious bangers on this project. Slayter spends a lot of the time on this album trying out a whole myriad of sounds and aesthetics, never feeling like he’s throwing shit at the wall to see what sticks, but rather that his mind seems so freeform that he genuinely has fun trying out new things. I will say that it seems like his wheelhouse is a more hard-nosed trap instrumental, but he really tries out everything on here: there is a boom-bap cut with scratches from none other than Statik Selektah, more silky R&B cuts, auto-trap bangers, and there is even a FIRE Drill beat on this motherfucker that is far and away the best instrumental on this album. On the microphone Slayter has skills, that is undeniable, but the sheer number of features on here can sometimes distract from Slayter himself. I would have liked to have seen more solo tracks (how often do I say *that* shit around here?) to really see where Slayter places himself as an artist, but I’m not going to complain too much about a host of features that are all fire, with some really unexpected appearances making Slayter’s influence apparent. You get guys like Benny the Butcher and Smoke DZA, Yungeen Ace and Luh Kel, Sada Baby and RetcH, Maxo Kream and Jay Critch; it’s a fuckin’ crazy lineup that was used expertly. The deluxe adds some great material, but I would go through and save the tracks that speak to you the most.

Spotify/YouTube/Apple Music

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-------SOUP’S HOT DEALS-------

Primo Profit & Michaelangelo – Ransom Blvd

Investment: $30.00

Cover Artist: le_daltonien_

Boston’s Primo Profit had me entranced from the first moment I heard him on CRIMEAPPLE’s LP with DJ Muggs last year, with his deep and raspy kingpin whisper having me super interested in a full project from the guy. This is where I admit that I definitely dropped the ball, not only on him but other close CRIME associates like RLX. I’m here to repent by letting all of you know that this new album, Ransom Blvd, is pretty fucking incredible. The shit straight-up plays like a movie, utilizing clips from movies and spoken word not really to narrate a cohesive experience as much as put you into a world that is flowing without you, sound-tracking events that you aren’t really sure are happening. You know there is some serious shit going down by the stories and one-off drug-dealer references Primo makes in English but most of the times you feel like you’re witnessing something epic that you can’t really put your finger on, sometimes because the samples seem random but mostly because they are in Spanish (Primo will throw in some Spanish regularly while rapping too, a language I don’t speak but I can sometimes use context clues to figure out). The samples are woven together in front of beats done entirely by Michaelangelo, who I recognize from his work with CRIMEAPPLE also: his style on this album is very cerebral and visual, spacey drones of electric-sounding synths and very sparing drums giving me this 80’s mystery vibe. There feels like there is a danger around every corner, every track sounding like an important scene in this movie that tries to convey as much ambiance to you with as little sound as possible. Primo Profit is not a particularly lyrical emcee, being much more concerned with maintaining his strong-will and wise-yet-deadly kingpin persona across the album, but these beats bring out the absolute best parts of his character. The slower, enveloping beats shroud his words in haze like a foggy Bogota morning, giving his words weight and believability: he’s not rapping as much about the murder/drug dealing life as much as he is the life of someone in a position of great power in the drug trade, so his words feel so much more important and large. I could go on, but suffice it so say that this album really hits that perfect balance between music/cinema that I haven’t executed at such a high level so far this year. If you fuck with the Griselda boys, Daniel Son, the soundscapes of older Wu-Tang records (talking about Cuban Linx here), and the effortless flex of emcees like Hus Kingpin, you have got to give this a listen.

==> Primo's Website <==

Spotify/YouTube/Apple Music

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Jamal Gasol & Nes – Ronwaldo Reyes

Investment: $7.00

Cover Artist: Dayro

The thing about Jamal Gasol is that his ear for good producers is unbeaten so far as I’m concerned, pairing up with only the best motherfuckers out there. Nes is one of those motherfuckers, but I really don’t know much about him. He dropped a track a while back with a shit-ton of guys on there like divino and ANKHLEJOHN on there, but beyond that I’m pretty new to the guy, and let me say I have been sleeping. These beats are amazing, with very bold and cinematic sample choices reminding me of Estee Nack and Daringer’s production styles, maybe without so much in the way of tight-loop in favor of more open and phased instrumentals. The guitars, drums, strings, and pianos are all beautiful, and hit hard in ways the many beats nowadays just can’t; the shit sounds straight out of the 90’s. Over these beats, Jamal pretty much is set up to succeed, and succeed he does. His flow is a slower, more calculated one, sounding a lot like he’s just sort of telling you of the events of his life with no frills. You’ll occasionally get some hood-wisdom, but for the most part he operates in the slinging drugs/taking over corners aesthetic in underground hip-hop today. The beats are also tailored to his flow and his cadence perfectly, never feeling like the it’s overpowering the emcee. If you’re looking for the true-blue hip-hop shit this week, this is your stop.

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JPEGMAFIA – EP

Investment: Name Your Price

Cover Artist: [Unknown]

I’m throwing this here on the end of my Weekly Fix because JPEGMAFIA deserves your money, point blank period. All of this songs are already readily available to listen to for the most part on their own, but Peggy has given us the option of compiling them into their own little EP, and the ability to support him financially as well. There are some serious bangers in this little project here, crazy sung flows and some skeletal yet impactful beats that deserve your ears if you haven’t already given them a listen throughout the year. Denzel Curry and Tommy Genesis appearances are merely cherries on this sundae. I paid 8 dollars for this, a dollar per track, because I appreciate this shit and want to give to my dude, and, while this is a Name Your Price release on Bandcamp (you could give a dollar… please don’t), I challenge anyone who fucks with this to match my 8 dollars, for the culture. If you fucked with All My Heroes Are Cornballs (which was my #6 Album of the Year in 2020 by the way), there is no way you won’t love this.

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