Weekly Fix #46 ('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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Lots of projects to go over this week from all walks of life. I want to wish Benny Butcher and Lil Boosie a speedy recovery after they were both shot in Texas in separate incidents over the past week; shit is wild out there.

Things of note this week: another Ransom and Nicholas Craven tape (and an announcement for another one in December), Ty Farris and Bozack Morris killing their collaboration, Aesop Rock’s continued quality in projects, and Fly Anakin & Pink Siifu’s beautiful album full of character and heart. Shoutout to Rory Fresco and Aaqil Ali for blindsiding me with to amazing projects; check these two out before anything guys, you won’t regret it.

I see a few things for next week, like Megan Thee Stallion and SAINt JHN, but most of the fire has already come out as far as I’m concerned: Roc Marciano kills it again on his Mt. Marci project and Russ of all people has dropped one of the hottest EPs of 2020. That is not a joke or a typo: CHOMP is spectacular. All of this will be included in Weekly Fix #47 (’20), so stay tuned. Check out everything coming out over on my Upcoming Heat page.

2020 is almost over, which means that Album of the Year season is upon us. I’ve mentioned it a few times but I think I’m going to mention it again every week from now until the posts start dropping: this year I’m including the entirety of 2020 in my AOTY consideration. Last year I made my posts in December, which means that the 2019 lists only went until November. Well that means that the 2020 AOTY will be considering albums from December 2019 as well, stuff like Roc Marciano’s *last* album and Roddy Ricch’s Please Excuse Me For Being Antisocial. I was a dumbass about it last year, so this year I’m trying to correct the timeline.

Like usual, I would like to thank all of my readers for making this place the way it is. Your eyes and support make all of this grinding worthwhile, especially for those of you who have found some ill shit to listen to while browsing my writing. Keep it up, keep listening, and keep supporting these artists.

Peace

Here’s a link to the Week #46 (’20) Playlists

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Here’s a link to the Week #46 (‘20) Singles

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Here’s a link to the Week #46 (’20) Art Appreciation post

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

Rory Fresco & CashMoneyAP – Rare Form

Cover Artist: [Unknown]

The only thing I know about Rory is that he’s from Kansas City, a town not known for its rappers by any means (pretty much exclusively Tech N9ne), let alone autotuned trappers. If this project is any indication, I think KC has a star on their hands, because this is some of the best pop-trap I have heard this year, and it’s NOT one of those albums that’s carried off of the production. That’s not to say that the instrumentals aren’t good, they are just as silky and hard as Fresco’s rapping, being the first project I’ve heard so far done entirely by CashMoneyAP. AP is one of the most visible faces in type-beat culture (if not the most visible face), and as such he is able to give tracks very specific sounds and vibes, and what started as mimicking the styles of other popular artists’ aesthetics like Travis Scott and Future has progressed into genuine prowess in the production game. He is perfecting the trap wave instead of riding in upon it, with every beat here executing a stellar instrumental idea to perfection. But back to Fresco, who rides over these beats with all sorts of flows and melodies that show so much potential going forward. He can change up the flows dynamically, hitting you with vocally similar lines but with the acrobatics of someone like Gunna and Lil Baby, and his melodies are very well written and make every tracks’ hook standout amongst the others (especially Facts, No Boo, and Fr). No features isn’t even a problem on this shorter album, with Rory’s rapping and CashMoney’s expert beats keeping my attention for the entire project. I wasn’t expecting to like this album at all (pretty much just listened for the spider on the cover; shoutout good cover art for drawing people in), but it blew away all of my expectations, arguably placing as my must-listen album this week.

Spotify/YouTube/Apple Music

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Ransom & Nicholas Craven – Deleted Scenes

Cover Artist: Manuel “Cep” Concepcion

These are some loose songs that didn’t get to make it on any of the other Director’s Cut tapes that Ransom and Nicholas have put out this year (which currently numbers at 3). There’s nothing wrong with any of these tracks to indicate why they weren’t included, being just as fire lyrically and instrumentally to have easily placed on any of those other projects; it’s amazing how the scraps from these sessions, the b-sides, are still ungodly fire. Ransom is one of the best rappers out today, period, and anyone who values lyrics and well-structured bars and wordplay needs to check out the art that this man is able to bring to life with his pen. For all intents and purposes Craven is probably the best producer out there for Ransom’s very cinematic and detailed style, coming with larger-than-life soul loops, light on the drums but heavy on the emotion. The track The Shocker is probably the most outlandish and out-of-place track in their collective discography, the only track that I can see as “bonus content”, utilizing these zany and electric synths that really dig into your ears with sounds you haven’t heard before. I’ve written about these guys a couple times before, so you know this shit is fire. Get on it.

Spotify/YouTube/Apple Music

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Future & Lil Uzi Vert – Pluto x Baby Pluto

Cover Artist: Chris Feldz

I expected way more out of the collaborative album than what we ended up getting, but there are some solid songs on here to add into a playlist. Depending on who you talk to, the person who “carried” this tape is a different person/persons; for me, I think Super did a lot of the lifting on this tape from a hardcore aggressive standpoint, and predictably the tracks that sound more like Lil Uzi leftovers sees Vert shine harder. The two don’t really build upon each other as much as add their respective talents together, so it’s really up to the beats to provide the dynamism you’re looking for, and I think that’s accomplished admirably. But honestly the three elements of this tape work well together, adding up to a fairly well-greased whole that, while it overstays it’s welcome, pretty much comes together in about the way you would expect. So I guess looking at it from the unexpectedly fire perspective, this tape plays relatively safe, but I personally still think it has some quality to it. If you like the numbing, booming pop-trap of today’s youth, give this a shot, save a few tracks from it, and get ready for the deluxe version of this shortly. (NOTE: the deluxe came out, it’s pretty much the same)

Spotify/YouTube/Apple Music

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Ty Farris & Bozack Morris – Wired Different

Cover Artist: Shawn Johnson (Shon J.)

Detroit is home to some of the best spitters on the planet, and one of them, Ty Farris, is slowly building him name into one to keep your eye on. But there is a difference between his style and those of a lot of the other emcees from the D: whereas people like Royce and Elzhi have this effortless flair to their flows and lyrics, Farris is angrily and testily hewing his words into bar structures. His stories and wordplay still stack up bar-for-bar with the best from his city, with tracks like Social Media being clear indicators this his writing skills are nothing to scoff at and, even when he’s a bit more stream of conscious with his gangsta bars, you can still be hit with metaphors that even the best would tip their hat too. His projects usually fall into the category of raw and dark sample-driven hip-hop, but there is more of a digital flair brought by Toronto’s own Bozack Morris on Wired Different. His drums are cleaner and a lot of the instrumentation is sci-fi-ish synths and whizzes, but even when he comes with a more traditional boom-bap cut you can here the buzz of deep-rooted synths. It leaves us with a project that sounds familiar to people in the underground hip-hop sphere, but distinctly futuristic. I think this is a fantastic pairing of rapper/producer, and I hope to hear more from both of these guys (together and otherwise) in the near future.

Spotify/YouTube/Apple Music

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2 Chainz – So Help Me God!

Cover Artist: Tity Boi

Chainz has never put out a bad album, but he also has never put out a classic, a distinction I think is important to make for someone so deep into his career. Every song on here has it’s place, the lyrics are always funny, and the guests are always highlights on any 2 Chainz project, showing that his influence and respect in the game is as big as it has ever been. People like Kevin Gates, YoungBoy NBA, Chief Keef, Lil Uzi Vert, and Kanye West all make appearances on here, checking off all of those boxes for a successful guestlist. It’s still missing something, and I’m not sure exactly what it could be: I like all of the beats, but a couple are a bit dry, and I would have liked to have seen more charismatic bangers like Grey Area or more personal tracks like Vampire in the tracklist, but there’s nothing I can really point to and say “this is the problem”. When the beats are at their best, they stick in your mind for a long time as unique and well crafted. I think anyone who enjoys irreverent southern hip-hop will like this project, no question, as it really has everything on paper that would make an enjoyable project. I do love that album cover though; it’s always a treat to see where rappers grew up from.

Spotify/YouTube/Apple Music

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DJ Kay Slay – Homage

Cover Artist: [Unknown]

Let’s be real, the reason why we’re all here is the massive street anthem Rolling 50 Deep, an 18-minute juggernaut of a track that has legends, new blood, and the best rappers out today one after the other, spitting short mini-verses in rapid succession. I mean this track has everyone: Ghostface, Benny the Butcher, E-40, Rockness Monsta, Twista, Uncle Murda, Dave East, Papoose, RJ Payne, DJ Paul, Cory Gunz, Royce Da 5’9”, and Raekwon, among 37 other emcees. It’s a great listen for the novelty, but there are a couple of other tracks here too, which would have been a reasonably-sized EP for Kay Slay were it not for the 18 minute track. There are some real gems on these other tracks, with great performances from AZ, Conway the Machine, Busta Rhymes, and Bun B. It’s just a shitton of bars stacked up on top of each other, laced over some over-produced but bangin’ production. Really not much else to say other than that, listen if you fuck with that East Coast lyrism.

Spotify/YouTube/Apple Music

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Joey Fatts – G Way

Cover Artist: [Unknown]

Sometimes you see a name out there and are genuinely stunned that they are still making music. I don’t think I’ve actually heard a feature or anything from Joey Fatts since…Vince Staples’ Summertime 06 maybe? Still, I’m down to give anyone a chance no matter how long it’s been, and I’m glad I did for my man Joey here, because this mixtape is a solid. Firstly, there are many different vibes you can tap into on this project (it’s not *just* a west-coast riders project), from party anthems, reflective gangsta tunes, bay area bangers, and some more clubby pop cuts, showing that Fatts really cared about the variety on this project. There’s heartfelt underdog energy to Joey’s delivery on here, usually sticking to a pattern but still coming across reliably consistent. Besides Joey himself you get a good spread of guests on here too: Dave East, Slimmy B (from the defunct SOBxRBE), and G Perico all bring fire performances on here, showing that Joey’s influence on the coast is still felt to this day. If you fuck with the real-deal L.A. music, then give this a shot.

Spotify/YouTube/Apple Music

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-------SOUP’S HOT DEALS-------

Aesop Rock – Spirit World Field Guide

Investment: $10.00

Cover Artist: Coro

If there is something that you can always count on, it’s the intensely detailed and expertly-written lyrics from Aesop Rock. I wouldn’t say that Aesop is doing anything “new” here, maintaining the level of polish that he has never let up for decades now, it’s just that, at least in comparison to a couple of his previous projects, he’s executing for longer periods of time across this hour-long album. The songs have cool topics that strangely stick to their focuses; even though it seems like a lot of the things he says are lyrical detours, they all nicely wind up back in the original topics in ways that prove that the man’s mind is never wandering too far besides his eclectic word choices. But all of this is nothing new, with Aesop Rock’s name being know throughout the genre for this kind of top-tier penmanship, but I think what makes this album more special than usual, for me at least, is that a lot of these beats are hard. Not that his past projects have had soft beats let me say, but they’ve always been kind of zany and cerebral, like cute mind-games thrown into beat form; but this project has a very large number of beats that are actually ill as hell, muscular and scuzzy boom-bap cuts that surprised me with their ferocity. There are even a few tracks that have amazing beat changes, switching things up on a dime to a more serene (or even more demented) instrumental. Given that it’s only been a few days, I haven’t had all of the time in the world to dig into this albums overarching narrative, but best believe there is one here, revolving around otherworldly beings invading our zones of reality and all of the shenanigans that result from that. In terms of Hot Deals, this is the best bang for your buck as far as I’m concerned, so get out there and support a legend.

==> Aesop's Website <==

Spotify/YouTube/Apple Music

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Aaqil Ali – Dough Networkz Presents: “Dirty Spirits”

Investment: $10.00

Cover Artist: Huey P.

I’m blown away by this talent that I had literally never heard of before. Mt. Vernon’s own Aaqil Ali is a rapper closely associated with G4 JAG’s Fly Family movement, bringing a hugely lyrical edge to the collective. Aaqil has skills that are really a cut above the average “lyrical rapper”, able to string together complex themes and fantastic rhyme schemes together effortlessly, a combination of talents that’s hard to come by in Underground hip-hop today. I would compare him to someone like Rome Streetz, Planet Asia, or Rim when looking at his skills, although he has a more positive and less “woke” persona than some of those rappers. It’s really just that his writing takes a lot of forethought, every bar in its place, not squeaky clean but structured carefully by someone who actually cares about the way his words are presented. This entire project is done by Yosonova, a beatmaker who had just recently gotten heavily into the production game, but in his short time has put out nothing but astounding quality; I can say confidently that this is his best-sounding project to date, drawing from many different influences in his style from guys like The Alchemist and Nicholas Craven (I thought off of the first listen Craven did a lot of these beats, a testament to how talented Yos is on the boards for sure). If you’re looking for precisely lyrical and superbly produced underground hip-hop, this is where you’re going this week, no question.

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Fly Anakin & Pink Siifu – FlySiifu’s

Investment: £8.00 (~$10.50)

Cover Artist: Jacob Rochester & Jack McKain

I’m loving everything about this album, from it’s concept to the chemistry between the duo themselves. Anakin and Siifu are both part owners of a dusty old record shop on this LP, an establishment they call FlySiifu’s, one where you can find any old record you’re looking for… that is if you’re looking for it yourself. The hilarious part of this record is how the skits and some of the bars give you a picture of a store run by two people who could honestly give a shit: they are just there to enjoy the vibes, listen to their favorite records, and smoke copious amounts of weed while their customers call into the store and give them shit for not doing anything. It has a big Clerks energy that I’m in love with, and the fact that it’s a record store instead of a convenience store makes it all the more relatable. The instrumentals all sound built from the samples that you would find in a record store like FlySiifu’s, sounding very vintage and well-worn; you get names like Jay Versace, Animoss, Foisey, Graymatter, Obliv, and none-other than Madib himself to grace these instrumentals, pretty much a who’s who of the low-key and sample-heavy chill-hop you find in the underground nowadays. There is even something to say about the dynamic between Fly Anakin and Pink Siifu themselves, being very different, but entirely complimentary, artists, seemingly on completely different wavelengths that end up at the same destination. Siifu will hit you with the more esoteric path, winding and weaving between words describing his life and his mindstate, while Anakin pretty much does the same thing while shouting at you (in a poetic way of course). You can almost imagine this album as a sort of sitcom series, with the two crazy protagonists trying to do as little as possible to keep their shop running, merely laughing at all of the pissed customers who call up to talk shit. A solid, well-constructed, perfectly sequenced, and immaculately rapped album with tons of personality and character. Listen to this if you like dudes like Earl Sweatshirt, MIKE, and Big Kahuna OG.

Spotify/YouTube/Apple Music

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Rim, Eddie Kane, & iamT2 – BK Caminantes

Investment: $15.00

Cover Artist: Trevor Lang

These three names (four members, iamT2 is a production duo) come together for an unflinchingly consistent bout of raw and dirty hip-hop, with the chemistry between them being simply off the charts. Rim has been in the game for a minute now, hopping on a fuckton of other artists albums during his career, getting his name out and about in supreme fashion, but Eddie Kaine is a bit of a newcomer as far as I’m concerned. I have only within the past few months started to hear his name, and almost always in the context of a Rim appearance or album; it seems like the two have a history together at least, a comradery that really speaks during the course of this album. The are both pretty grimy dudes on the microphone, but while Rim is a more of a gutter spitter, Eddie is a more brash and confrontational emcee, yelling more often than not. That dynamic leaves you entertained throughout the entire album, something that is merely highlighted in the face of the outstanding instrumentals brought by iamT2. Lots of character, punchy drums, amazing sample work on both the instrumental and vocal fronts, and even a little bit of a cinematic flair make this a great bit of work from them, some of their best yet as far as I’m concerned. If that wasn’t enough, you get a ton of great features to beef up that bar-profile even more: Rome Streetz, Bub Rock, Codenine, and Ty Farris all kill their appearances here, merely more to love about an already lovable album. Give this a shot if you want some of that old-school shit.

==> Porter Haus Productions' Wesbsite <==

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Crush A Lot Podcast (Various Artists) – A Score To Settle Vol. 1

Investment: $8.00

Cover Artist: Greg Rappa

The guys and girl over at Crush a Lot have come through with a project that is a love-letter to fans of underground hip-hop. Through their connections they’ve made with all sorts of artists, they are able to get guys like Rigz, Mooch, Adonis, Estee Nack, Starker, and Asun Eastwood to this fun and low-stakes project, one that serves simply to give us more music to enjoy. Even on the beat front we get some big names like Futurewave, Giallo Point, and V Don, who don’t skimp on their instrumentals here in the slightest. There really isn’t much to say about this one: if you fuck with the underground, go out there and support this project, which benefits one of the best Podcasts out there bringing attention to all of the great music being made today.

Spotify/YouTube/Apple Music

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