Weekly Fix #48 ('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.

——————————

I told y’all there were going to be some delays, but I did not expect this past week to be as awful as they ended up being. Having 17 albums to write about is not a bad thing, but it is a lot of work to get everything straight, and it’s a time-consuming process to make sure all of my ducks are in a row around here. Well, with all of the holiday travelling I had to do this past weekend, no time to do any writing at my real-ass job, and getting home so exhausted I didn’t want to eat food let alone write, I fucked myself to the point where I was days behind. And I still got a Monthly post to fix up. It’s been a long week…

But it’s been a week with fantastic music coming in huge quantities. Giant albums from artists like Statik Selektah, Juicy J, and Lil Wayne, as well as some underground heat like the new Spanish Ran & Tree Mason, as well as another perfect EP from Left Lane Didon. There are also a couple albums that came out the week before last on here, ones that I totally spaced out in covering on Week #47 (’20), but I’m here to correct that mistake now.

It’s Saturday now, and I haven’t listened to a damn thing from yesterday yet (besides Your Old Droog). I know there was a new RJ Payne EP, DJ Muggs has some sort of album out, Rico Nasty’s latest album is out, and DJ Scheme has a compilation tape ready for listening. Check out everything that came out over on my Upcoming Heat page.

Thank you all for being patient this past week; it hasn’t been easy, and there were many long nights, but it’s all worth it in the end. Now I have to start really cracking down on that Year-End list…

Here’s a link to the Week #48 (’20) Playlists

&

Here’s a link to the Week #48 (‘20) Singles

&

Here’s a link to the Week #48 (’20) Art Appreciation post

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

Statik Selektah – The Balancing Act

Cover Artist: Tristan Eaton, Dom Dirtee, & Lopicc

It’s always a treat whenever Statik comes around with his huge hip-hip-spanning projects, bringing in both legends and young-blood alike to celebrate this genre we all love. That’s what these albums boil down to in the end: celebration, veneration, remembrance. I will say that The Balancing Act is a lot more sentimental than Statik’s past albums; trying to sum up a decades-long career in the game now becomes harder when a lot of it’s biggest faces and personalities are no longer with us… not gonna lie, this shit made me cry multiple times, both for the losses and for the hope I feel that these newer cats can and will take over these mantles and continue this thing we love so dear into the future. It’s difficult to herd the cats on the album like this one, trying to get everyone on a similar page with the themes and ideas of the project, but Statik Selektah has pulled it off brilliantly on this one, with not only every rapper and singer here coming with their absolute A+ game, but sticking pretty closely to those sentimental and reflective topics: rappers like Marlon Craft, Bun B, and especially Jack Harlow surprised me with how deep they could get with their rhymes, with how much emotion they could convey. Needless to say, the ones who you think killed it (everyone basically), killed it: Termanology, Conway the Machine, Black Thought, Method Man, Rome Streetz, Fly Anakin, Evidence, and Sean Price all have virtually perfect performances, among a cast of rappers that all understand the value of showing their talent on an album like this. Which leaves us with the instrumentals, as if I need to tell you how spot-on Statik Selektah is as a traditional producer, a sampler, a sequencer, a mixer, or, most importantly, as a DJ. Every beat on here has it’s place, every sample has that warm love to it, a harder track has the drums at just the right intensity, and the man will never lose that ear for the perfect vocal snippet to scratch into a nostalgic hook. I do have a specific beat I want to show love to however, and that’s the beat on Ralph Lauren’s Closet, which features these craaaazy opera samples, stretched and looped into infinity that actually sounds kind of scary and intimidating, beautiful in its coldness. Thirstin Howl III really makes the instrumental his own, and Sean Price wasn’t the rapper I was expecting to work so well with this odd beat, but like always he never disappoints. Go out there and listen to this if you like the classics: A Tribe Called Quest, Wu-Tang, Madlib, J Dilla, and Gangstarr. Rest in Peace to the H.N.I.C, Phife, Mac, P, Nip, Fred, Pimp, and so many more: you will never be forgotten.

Spotify/YouTube/Apple Music

————————————————

Juicy J – THE HUSTLE CONTINUES

Cover Artist: [Unknown]

It’s finally here! It actually happened guys! The wait for a new Juicy J project is usually fraught with empty promises, missed release dates, and years of stalling and waiting. Do we get pissed? Yes. But the album that comes out on the other side is almost assuredly fire, a product of that long refinement and collaboration period, making sure all of the tracks are worth putting on the album. Juicy J has pulled out all of the stops on this one, producing damn-near the entire thing himself, wall-to-wall beats of some of the best vibes Memphis can come up with, bringing both his own personal best rapping and the best rapping of the horde of guests he brings on this thing. More than anything (even if you don’t fuck with Juicy himself as a rapper) you have to give a truckload of respect to the man as a curator of sounds, bringing together the traditional Tennessee hip-hop experience (albeit with that slightly more updated drum-spread) with some of your favorite emcees in the game, wrapped up nicely with a hook that is ALWAYS fire. Each song is made to stick in your head, with the hook written to be an easily-chantable repetition of words that fit in your mind so easily; it’s both a testament to the Memphis sound and to Juicy’s endearing personality. The same thing goes for the beats, with the tempos and general instruments being similar, but hard enough that you don’t complain. The thing that makes the album standout the most track-to-track are these features, with almost every track on here having one or two guests on them. There are people that make sense: Megan Thee Stallion and Young Dolph have been Juicy protégés for a while, A$AP Rocky takes a lot of notes from Three Six as it is, close ties with Taylor Gang makes Wiz Khalifa a given but still appreciated, and 2 Chainz is similar in his comedic leanings. But it’s the unexpected that really blow me away on this one: Conway the Machine ANNIHILATES his verse, rapping in a way I don’t think I’ve ever heard him spit. Jay Rock isn’t someone I would have guessed initially as a great fit, but hearing his verse just makes all the sense in the world. But it’s Project Pat who steals the best verse on here, a hidden feature on MEMPHIS TO LA who never disappoints… ever… but still it’s impressive how he manages to stun me even whenever an appearance on his own brother’s album is a no-brainer. Overall, THE HUSTLE CONTINUES was well worth the wait, coming with consistency, a great feeling of Memphis, great performances from a fuckton of guests, and solid writing from the mastermind behind it all, Juicy J. Listen to this if you want to hear some semi-mindless murder music, and have fun over a spread of beats with killer rappers.

Spotify/YouTube/Apple Music

————————————————

Lil Wayne – No Ceilings 3

Cover Artist: [Unknown]

It should be up to little debate at this point in hip-hop: Lil Wayne is the mixtape king. Period. But the mixtape as a medium has waned in recent years, with upped production values across the board making the distinction between an album and a mixtape negligible, and sites like DatPiff losing their utility in the face of streaming and YouTube. But Wayne takes it back to the basics on this one, partnering with DatPiff once again to release a true-to-form mixtape just like the old days, coming with a sequel to a mixtape series that lives in legend. No Ceilings is a classic, absolutely no question from ANY OF Y’ALL, a level of quality that No Ceilings 2 couldn’t hold a candle to: the beat selection on that mixtape was severely lacking, a key element in this series that thrives off of taking interesting modern beats from other famous artists and putting that Weezy spin on it. No Ceilings 3 occasionally slips up in the same regard, but for the vast majority of this album Wayne is killing dope beats you will recognize in both grimy and melodic fashions. A few Pop Smoke beats, Lil Baby, Moneybagg Yo, Lil Durk, Travis Scott, and Drake instrumentals find their way on here, and they all fit his stylings well (or at the very least are forced by Wayne to fit his style). The wordplay is nasty and genius, the flows can be gross, and the melodies are surprisingly competent (something that happens every time I hear him sing, but never seem to learn the dude can use autotune like a master), but most of all Wayne sounds energized, which after twenty years in the game is just incredible. The features can be a mixed bag, with great Drake, Gudda Gudda, and Cory Gunz performances, but I have got to be real with y’all: I respect the fuck out of Wayne putting his kids on this mixtape, but I never want to hear their tracks again. All in all, this is a solid tape, full of some classic Lil Wayne vibes that anyone who fucked with him back in the day can tap into.

DatPiff.com/YouTube

————————————————

Flee Lord – No More Humble Fashion

Cover Artist: Manuel “Cep” Concepcion

At 11 projects released so far in 2020, I think it is fair to say that there is no rapper in today’s underground that has both the work ethic and accrued success of Flee Lord. Could he sit on these projects are write out a more thoughtful and impactful project? Yes, but the consistency in quality in Flee’s project throughout 2020 has been remarkable, maintaining a grimy and energetic wave that has continued to grow month after month. With 11 other projects to choose from, it’s hard to find a favorite; it seems like every one he releases ends up being my new favorite, and No More Humble Fashion continues that tradition. The beats on here are crazy good, with seemingly a lot of Mephux leftovers from Pray For The Evil sessions making their way on here, giving this album a similarly varied and eerie vibe as those projects. Lyrically (and this is something I say on pretty much every single Flee release), he’s not doing anything that is going to blow your mind: he has good wordplay, and his ability to get into your head with this memorable one-liners (and repeating said one-liners for added effect) is about as good as it ever has been, but don’t go into this expecting some Griselda-level craziness. Speaking of the Buffalo boys, that’s pretty much who features on this project: Westside Gunn and Conway the Machine are joined by L.A.’s TF and Flee’s fellow Loyalty or Die affiliate G4 JAG. We still have one more project to go in 2020 to make this year a 12 for 12 grand slam for the Flee Lord brand, and supposedly it’s an album produced by none other than Mobb Deep’s Havoc. This album is as good a one as any to lead us into that final project, showing off Flee’s strengths effectively.

Spotify/YouTube/Apple Music

————————————————

Willie the Kid & V Don – Deutsche Marks 2

Cover Artist: artbyshk.com

It’s been well over three years since the last Deutsche Marks tape, the first major collaborative effort between Willie the Kid and New York’s resident super-producer V Don, a pairing whose chemistry was readily apparent right from the jump. The untethered and formless darkness of V Don’s production style was a perfect fit for Willie’s very loose associative rapping, bouncing between rhyme schemes and flows like a poet. Deutsche Marks 2 is every bit as satisfying as that original project, with Willie and V Don merely refining their craft, executing more precisely their hip-hop visions. We’ve already gotten a very recent taste of the ways of Willie the Kid, given that his last album, Capital Gains, came out just over two months ago, but I’m still able to see the ways he tailors his style to fir V Don: his flows are slower, more measured, less about the abject opulence of a high-rollers life and more about the dangers of a high-profile hustler, both in targeted violence and “business” dealings. V Don has really outdone himself on this album; he’s always been one of the most abstract samplers in the underground, but he really pulls out the stops when it comes to ancient/industrial sounding beats. The metallic blurts on Glass Shoppin’ and Minutiae are truly terrifying, and the recorded brass samples on Sepia Tone sound beyond vinyl: that shit sounds like something dug out of a crate in a Hong Kong record store from the 30’s or some shit. I would have liked to have seen a few more features on here, but Vado, Eto, Flee Lord, & Jai Black all kill their respective features (Vado is a particularly welcome face, still awaiting anything from him). If you want some murky, raw underground hip-hop with sparce yet sharp edge to it, this album will be especially potent.

Spotify/YouTube/Apple Music

————————————————

Curren$y & Harry Fraud – Bonus Footage - EP

Cover Artist: [Unknown]

So there are only two new tracks on this EP to speak about: Everyday and Light Switch; while both of these tracks are good, I can see how they wouldn’t have fit on the two other projects Curren$y and Harry have dropped this year. Everyday really sounds like a true B-Side, good enough to listen to but not well-wrought enough to warrant placement on an album like The OutRunners. Light Switch on the other hand is actually fantastic, with a minimalist harp-backed beat that is a perfect canvas for Spitta and his guest, the illustrious Gunplay, to rip up. But it is also that same blasé attitude that would have made it stick out like a sore thumb on another album, making it the perfect track to sort of listen to on it’s own like this. There are two other tracks on Bonus Footage – EP, both remixes, and they add some interesting elements and much-appreciated collaborations. Cordae joins Spitta on 1 Luv from The Director’s Cut, infusing some of his young wisdom to the smooth beat. But it is the remix to Rivera Beach that is my go-to recommendation for this EP, not only because I think the original track has one of my favorite Harry Fraud beats, not only because it has one of Conway’s best features of this year, but because Boldy James murders his appearance here in a way that I wasn’t expecting. The beat is so much grander than I thought he could match up to, but Boldface proved he can overpower a beat like this and still tell his story. I think this might be it for 2020 projects from the prolific duo, capping of one of the best year’s in their respective histories with a serviceable collection of loose songs and remixes.

Spotify/YouTube/Apple Music

————————————————

Seddy Hendrinx – Sayless

Cover Artist: [Unknown]

I had never heard of Seddy before this project, so really my only expectations were that I knew and liked all of the guests on here. What I found was an artist that, if he’s able to maintain his connections with amazing producers, will be one to watch going forward, drawing from influences like 24hrs and Gunna to create a brand of clean and blemishless pop-trap that we should all be familiar with at this point. The guy has flow, he can get some quick melodies off both in higher and lower registers, and his hook game doesn’t need that much work to be something worth listening to. With all of that being said, I think what is going to keep me coming back to this project is the wall-to-wall talent Seddy has recruited to be on this project: beats from CHASETHEMONEY and JetsonMade, and verses from the aforementioned Gunna and 24hrs, along with others like Quando Rondo and Jack Harlow, make this a consistently entertaining project, with each track having some new instrumental idea or unique voice to it. I’m eager to see what Seddy Hendrinx the album-artist will come up with, because I think there’s a lot of talent here waiting for that real breakout moment.

Spotify/YouTube/Apple Music

————————————————

Shoreline Mafia – Mafia Bidness (Deluxe)

Cover Artist: [Unknown]

Mafia Bidness was one of my sleeper hits for this year, way too long to be anything too transcendental for the group but still containing some of my favorite tracks Shoreline Mafia has ever put to wax. However, there was a certain dirtiness that was missing from their debut album: whenever they hit the scene, they felt like a cool mixture of aggressive soundcloud rap with the synthy coldness of modern Los Angles hip-hop, something they mostly traded in on Mafia Bidness for more traditional West-Coast and mainstream trap sounds. That old Shoreline is back in full force on this deluxe edition they just dropped, adding 8 new tracks that are obviously older tracks repurposed to give the base album a more complete picture of Shoreline Mafia’s historical sound. If we’re talking filthy music, then Backdoor, Disgusting, and Never Be You should 100% be in your rotation. If you are a longtime fan of the group and felt like the album was missing that initial spark of what made the group popular, then this deluxe edition will be exactly what you were looking for.

Spotify/YouTube/Apple Music

————————————————

Billy Danze – The Listening Session

Cover Artist: [Unknown]

Brownsville’s own Mash Out Posse (M.O.P. to everyone out there who’s been keeping up) is a group who, in my opinion, are criminally underrated in the underground community, especially whenever we’re talking about hip-hop duos. Both of the emcees, Lil Fame and Billy Danze, are some of the most reckless and energetic rappers out of that era, both growing over time into respected voices in the culture (often likened to the “your favorite rappers’ favorite rapper” category) and talented record producers in the two decades they’re bene grinding. While Lil Fame has been a much more visible figure in the modern underground, Danze has mostly stuck to the background, appearing every so often on a feature (usually whenever Fame is involved), but hadn’t dropped an actual project until last year with his 6 Pack EP, a solid effort if anything. The Listening Session is Billy’s first full-length project, standing atop the pile as both a reaffirmation of what makes Danze such a attention-grabbing rapper and a point of reference for any rapper out there wanting to release a solo record 20 years past their debut. Billy has outstandingly old-school production, provided in their entirety by TooBusy, full of the spirit of M.O.P. as a movement in the boisterous instrumentals and warm/soulful vocal samples. I think more than anything the beats are what hold older artists back from true greatness, but TooBusy has given Billy Danze the perfect canvas to make the argument for why people should pay attention. Another reason why people should pay attention is because Billy is loud as a motherfucker, with a delivery that sticks firmly in the “yell everything” category, trading in smooth flows for an explosive personality. He says some outlandish shit, but nothing gross or un-hip-hop, sounding somehow respectful while shouting in the way he does; it’s an odd attribute to his rapping character, but one that makes him standout amongst other rappers. Anyone who loves Wu-Tang, Gangstarr, and especially Heltah Skeltah, will 100% love this project, given that many of those names and faces make their appearances on here, from Method Man to DJ Premier. Give this legend a shot.

Spotify/YouTube/Apple Music

————————————————

Foogiano – Gutta Baby

Cover Artist: [Unknown]

One of Gucci Mane’s new handful of protégés under his 1017 label, Foogiano sticks out to me the most as having the most potential to stand on his own in the music industry. You can 100% hear the Atlanta influence in his slang and delivery: there is a heavy Peewee Longway energy in his voice, rolling through verses faster and more technically than someone like Gucci Mane would for instance (although he does try to match Guwop’s flow on a couple occasions). But I think the biggest source of his sound comes from other, younger faces: Lil Baby has made his mark on Foogiano’s style for sure, and I can hear some similarities between him and guys like Kodak Black and 42 Dugg. Despite the other rappers he sounds like, he comes through with a full-length album that does more than expected in showcasing his talent and longevity in the ATL trap scene. His flow can be relentless, his energy and style flying off the page in a way that’s much more active than classic trap rappers, taking advantage of the higher BPM beats to delivery quick and fiery hooks and verses. Another source of refreshment is that he spends very little of this albums stuck on melody (I can’t even pick out an instance off the top of my head where he’s singing), appropriately focusing on his street raps instead. Finally, the people he brings along with him really give him a sense of place and scene; obviously Gucci and Pooh Shiesty are gonna be on the album being label heads/mates, but we also get quality appearances from DaBaby, Jacquees, and Geezy Escobar. As a debut project, there is a lot to love about it, and has me looking forward to seeing how not only Foogiano capitalizes on this new attention, but also the rest of the members of The New 1017 like Pooh Shiesty and Big Scar.

Spotify/YouTube/Apple Music

————————————————

French Montana – CB5

Cover Artist: [Unknown]

If you thought French Montana would ever be done making music… well you’d be wrong, because we have now reached the fifth installment in his Coke Boys series, which is more of what you would expect from the Bronx artist with a slightly more effective filter of songs that just simply don’t work. What I’m saying is that CB5 doesn’t have as many duds as you would expect (maybe now with the deluxe edition that might be different, I did skip this album last week only to come back this week with a deluxe on my hands), using THE HELL out of features to make many of these songs enjoyable, and usually only coming solo on a song whenever it is rock-fucking-solid enough to stand on it’s own. When it comes to those features, you get a lot of identifiable names and faces: Jack Harlow, Lil Durk, Max B, Chinx, Curren$y, Benny the Butcher, and Pop Smoke all make appearances, turning what would be lackluster songs into something special and memorable at best, and listenable at worst. Like I said, there are a couple moments whenever French actually has a great song to himself, more than what we can usually find on one of this projects, songs like FTMU and Who Dat, songs that actually have some serviceable rapping and a good character. I have no complaints about the beats either, utilizing expensive production to bolster the album up with the shine and sheen needed to compete in the pop-rap marketplace. All of French Montana’s albums have moments, and I think if you listen, find those moments, and delete all those other tracks, you’re left with something you can unironically enjoy about this man.

Spotify/YouTube/Apple Music

————————————————

Green R Fieldz – The Hillz Have Eyez

Cover Artist: [Unknown]

The Turkey Bag General is back with another low-stakes mixtape, a collection of track with fellow weed aficionados making music that they can throw on in a smoke session and say “we did some shit right here”. It’s all pretty overproduced, like a campy Wiz Khalifa tape from back in the day (several of the beats and melodies on here sound ripped straight from those older weed-rap days), but I don’t think the tape ever aspires to be anything more than entertaining in the first place. Green R Fieldz tries a little bit of everything on the album from fast rapping to autotuned singing; you can tell the dude is amateur, but he’s clearly having fun here, so I can give a pass for not having a Justin Bieber voice. The features are where a lot of the enjoyment lies here: A$AP Twelvvy, Smoke DZA ZOMBiE Juice, Demrick, and Berner all have great appearances, being like a rotating cast of stoned emcees, each of which are funnier than the last. I wouldn’t call this shit an album to smoke to, but it has it’s moments. If you fuck with that old Taylor Gang shit, then listen to this.

Spotify/Apple Music

————————————————

Jeezy – The Recession 2

Cover Artist: [Unknown]

Alright, so let’s get this out of the way before I talk about this album: despite being a Gucci fan, I firmly believe that Jeezy won that Versuz battle the other day. He just came with the better hits I’m sorry; whenever Gucci started playing shit like Wake Up In the Sky I knew he was in trouble. But anyway, this album, which dropped right after that Versuz aired, is actually very good, one of Snow’s best in many years in my opinion. There’s an elevated sense of importance on the album, a sort of mature progression in both the lyrical substance and the instrumental palette. He’s speaking on some real issues the hood faces, and doing it over beats that feel like they have some spiritual weight behind them. Don’t get me wrong there are still some old-school bangers on here with those horns and synths we all love, but they feel more like nostalgic throwbacks than trying to force this sound onto the listeners of today. I would have liked to have seem some more features on here, but guys like Rick Ross and Yo Gotti don’t waste their appearances by any means. I don’t have much more to say about it other than my apologies for forgetting about it on last week’s Fix.

Spotify/YouTube/Apple Music

————————————————

-------SOUP’S HOT DEALS-------

Tree Mason & Spanish Ran – W.I.P. 2

Investment: $25.00

Cover Artist: DuanePlanes

So I have heard the name Spanish Ran around the underground water cooler for a hot minute now, but as far as I remember I have never ventured out and listened to a project done by the guy. Representing the Bronx, Ran is a producer that sits firmly in the camp of raw, cinematic hip-hop, giving me vibes similar to cats like DJ Muggs and Sadhugold; his drums are lightly played but still visible, his instrumental samples are grainy and textured, and his vocal chops are very bold and prominent. For being someone who I’ve never listened to before, I’m surprised by the quality and efficacy of these beats, hitting me with a professional polish (or rawness, you know what I mean) that the best in the underground might have come up with. For this EP, he teams up with fellow Bronx native Tree Mason to deliver his lethargic and sleepy raps, not boring by any means but rather rapping at his own brisk walk of a pace. Mason reminds me of other rappers like All Hail Y.T. and M.A.V. (the latter of whom has a featured verse on the last track), with a smoothness oozing from his flows and slick lyrics, an effortlessness that gives him this poetic edge. He works well in these relatively sparce beats, safely finding the drum-line and sticking to it in classic fashion (“classic” seems to be a vibe both Ran and Tree are going for on this one given the cover art is a callback to the Eric B. & Rakim’s Paid in Full). Great features from Starker, Bloo, and Da Cloth’s M.A.V. wrap up this project into a nice little hip-hop package. Listen to this shit if you want some low-key street-level hip-hop.

Spotify/YouTube/Apple Music

————————————————

Elcamino & 38 Spesh – Sacred Psalms

Investment: $11.99

Cover Artist: Manuel “Cep” Concepcion

Elcamino’s second major release of this year (after his Money For Bail and Camoflauge Monk project rollout was fucked by some chickenshit motherfucker who leaked them hella early) just so happens to be his second full project produced by 38 Spesh. Way back at the beginning of 2020 the two released Martyr’s Prayer, a project that I thought showed a ton of potential; one that, if they expanded out the tracklist a bit and added some killer features, would undoubtedly lead to an album of the year candidate. Sacred Psalms doesn’t really solve any of these issues as much as marginally improve them, taking a step forward by sitting at 20 minutes of new material, but also a step backwards by not including any guest rappers at all (38 Spesh doesn’t count cause he’s billed as an artist on this shit). What this album is, however, is a series of hypnotic, mostly melodic performances from Elcamino, crooned over low-fi instrumental loops from Spesh punctuated by a muted drum machine. There are only a few elements at play here, but they all come together into something listenable, maybe not as flashy as Martyr’s Prayer was, but fittingly dark given the cover art of the terrifying gothic Jesus. Like I was saying, I would have liked to have seen a couple of features, but I think this is a solid follow-up to their initial project. Listen to this is you fuck with Griselda or any of the other Trust Gang albums this year.

Spotify/Apple Music

————————————————

Left Lane Didon & Bombay Da Realest – The Electric Dolphin

Investment: $7.77

Cover Artist: Dusty Doodles

Here we go again: one of my favorite rappers out right now has another EP for us to chew on. Again, we’re treated to some of the most consistently fire wordplay in the seedy underbelly of hip-hop, brought to you by one of the two best rappers out of Delaware right now. His bars are perfectly nasty, mixing a good flow and cadence with great rhyme schemes that all boil together into an emcee who is sharp on every side. None of his rap skill has dimmed yet, but the differences lie in the producer of this record, Bombay Da Realest, who I admittedly know very little about (he might be from California according to RateYourMusic?). Bombay brings a spread of instrumentals that are upbeat, electrifying (pun slightly intended), and in some cases damn-near danceable. There’s a real “boogie” energy with this project, with fat basslines and scat drums making this one of Lane’s more positive releases. We even get Jay NiCE on a track of his own on this one, coming with some crazy bars in front of these soaring electric guitar leads. This tape is a manageable $7.77 on Bandcamp, so all of y’all better go out there and support this master wordcraftsman right now. Lefty, if you’re reading this, we need to know when you’re gonna put out Tha Shoulder Season 3 bro, I swear I’ll buy the fuck out of that tape.

==> Bandcamp <==

————————————————

Jamal Gasol – The Ghost of Fritz

Investment: $10.00

Cover Artist: Zach Sisk

Produced entirely by Quis Star, a dude who’s been around Jamal for a minute now, The Ghost of Fritz is probably Gasol’s most complete body of work so far, working off of an overarching concept to tell a sort of mini-story about the infamous Rich Porter, a big-time crack dealer operating out of NYC in the late 80’s. I like all of the little newsclips and interview snippets thrown in here to give the listener a little bit more context into who the character is, what his lifestyle was like, giving information about various terms such as consignment. I love the concept here, but more than that I love the way Jamal approaches these tracks; there is a clear emphasis on song structures here, creating hooks and bridges in these songs with multiple verses, feeling much more thought out and planned than a lot of other underground emcees, who seem to drop things they cooked up relatively quickly. Jamal’s rapping is as strong as ever, speaking on that real street dealer shit, sort of speaking alongside Rich Porter, giving visuals of the kinds of experiences he would have gone through in his business. Some of the beats on here give me those Tony Starks Ironman vibes, while others sound like they could stand shoulder to shoulder with the best of Daringer, a great spread of 90’s and modern vibes. There are even some killer features on here from Jamal’s fellow Big Turk Rome Streetz, a dude named Jynx716 who kills his verse, and a welcome feature from none-other than 38 Spesh. I think I might like The World Is Piff 2 more as a listening experience, but The Ghost of Fritz is Jamal’s best album for sure, and y’all should check this shit out if you’re looking for some read drug-dealing music.

==> Jamal's Website (for Physicals) <==

Spotify/YouTube/Apple Music

————————————————