Weekly Fix #52 ('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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I usually write these intros as the last piece of my Weekly Fix, weirdly enough.

This time I was going to make some sweeping statement on how thankful I am for all of the attention and success Tha Soup Dude’s Kitchen found this year, but when I sat down to write this, I saw the news. I really I can’t think if a more 2020 thing to happen: any time I think I get a reprieve to speak on the very few positives, the overwhelming negatives make themselves known, reminding me that “yes, this year will be the worst one you have experienced in your 25 years”.

I’m going to leave all of you with this: treasure everything. This isn’t about music this is about everything. I will treasure my platform, the people around me supporting me, the small things. Because, y’all, life isn’t guaranteed to ANYBODY.

Rest in Peace to Alex Trebek, a person who go me through the worst times of my life, teaching me the importance of knowledge.

Rest in Peace to Fred the Godson, your lyrics will always be godsent.

Rest in Peace to Pop Smoke, taken before you could truly see your movement blossom.

Rest in Peace to Groggs, who made me laugh and cry many, many times.

Rest in Peace to King Von, too soon and with so much more to give.

Rest in Peace to Malik B, a legend in every sense of the word.

Rest in Peace to Marlo, Atlanta’s next up for sure.

Rest in Peace to the eternal villain MF DOOM. There has been and will never, ever be one like you.

Here’s a link to the Week #52 (’20) Playlists

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Here’s a link to the Week #52 (‘20) Singles

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Here’s a link to the Week #52 (’20) Art Appreciation post

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

Westside Gunn – FLYGOD

Cover Artist: Manuel “Cep” Concepcion

I am SO happy to be able to present this album to all of you streaming cats out there, as Westside Gunn’s now-classic FLYGOD has been eluding the Spotifys and Apple Musics of the world for years now. Released all the way back in 2016, this album is not only seen as the explosive starting point of Westside Gunn’s rocket to the King of the Underground, but also the beginning of the Griselda takeover, a momentum that has manifested itself in more movements than Griselda itself. Rappers like Conway the Machine and Benny the Butcher got some major exposure on this project (especially the latter, as Conway already had people buzzing off of Reject 2 by this point), but this album also introduced many listeners out there to rappers like Mach-Hommy and Your Old Droog, as well as production from Camoflauge Monk, Tha God Fahim, and, of course, the genius and dark-hearted simplicity of Daringer’s looped samples. This album has Gunn’s best rapping, his best beat selection, standing as his most complete and “Griselda” release in his discography, an album who effects are STILL being felt today, influencing an entire crop of up-and-coming rappers that are making major moves in today’s game. I can’t say anything else about it that hasn’t already been said: if you haven’t heard this gem, get off your ass and get caught up on this historical and monumental shit.

Spotify/YouTube/Apple Music

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Playboi Carti – Whole Lotta Red

Cover Artist: _artdealer_

2020 has presented us as a new kind of album rollout (or maybe an old kind that just seems to be getting more and more vicious): a huge, long-awaited album that is bombarded on release by a sort of mob-mentality of hate, where the initial impression from a few people is picked up and ran with by the collective. I’m not meaning to say that there can be no criticism of this project; we’ve been waiting for it for a while now and Carti has been teasing it relentlessly. But Whole Lotta Red is not by any means a bad album. Is it better than Die Lit? No. Is it better than his self-titled? No. But Whole Lotta Red is Carti continuing to push his sound forward in a more violent, punk, and ethereal direction, with some of my personal favorite Carti performances landing on this thing. Here’s the deal: listening to Playboi Carti requires a certain understanding of the goals. Carti is not out to out-rap your favorite rapper, be technical or flashy in any way, or say anything transcendent in the genre; the man is here to get lit, and to ferry his listeners along through brief periods of sub-bass hell, highly digital and melodic N64-sounding bangers, and rhythmic chants that all sound tailor-made for a live performance that would rock your socks off. These are songs that are very ears-off, requiring little to no attention beyond the immediate vibes that hit you from the distorted kicks and synths, the buzzing samples, and the easily repeatable hooks and choruses. If you are looking for depth, you will not find it here, plain and simple, with everything presented on this project being for sole entertainment value. Whole Lotta Red is an exercise in trap/punk that sees Carti putting out his most explosive and rambunctious material yet, something that I (and I guess many people out there) were not expecting, given that his whole focus (and even the lead single @meh, which is mysteriously not found on this LP) before this was on something that fans affectionately called his “baby voice”. As for me, personally, I’m glad that he saved that gimmick for only a spare few tracks on here, instead focusing his power into the more energetic material. Where the album makes some missteps to me is on two fronts: the length and the features. There are TWENTY-FOUR songs on this motherfucker, over an hour of material, that could easily have done without 8-10 of those tracks; Carti is not an artist suited to long albums, especially with as few guests as there are. Die Lit spoiled us on the features front, as I wanted to see so many more people collaborate with the guy to try and fit into his sound, but instead we got only a few, but high-profile for damn sure, names on here like Kid Cudi, Future, and none other than Kanye West, all of whom do well to their credit. In summation, Whole Lotta Red is a disappointment to so many people for reasons that I truly don’t understand, but to those who have been listening to Playboi Carti for a while, I see no reason not to like this project for what it is, exactly in the same way people like Die Lit/Playboi Carti for what they are. Listen to this if Lil Uzi, Future, Xavier Wulf, or Three Six Mafia enter your playlists at all.

Spotify/YouTube/Apple Music

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Flee Lord & Havoc – In the Name of Prodigy

Cover Artist: Manuel “Cep” Concepcion

The man actually did it: Flee Lord went twelve for twelve on projects in 2020. Starting all the way back in February with Pray For The Evil, Flee has dropped consistently every month this year (and twice in August to make up for January), going on a legendary run of projects that felt planned, executed well, and consistently added solid projects to the Flee Lord discography. I wouldn’t say there was much of an evolution or theme among these projects to speak of, merely dwelling in what makes Flee Lord such a compelling emcee to begin with: reckless and aggressive deliveries, quality drug-talk, and fantastic chemistry with any guest he brings on to his songs (which are usually quite a few). He’s not pushing his envelope on this project here, but the heart and drive is still here, just like it has been on all of his other projects, never feeling like he’s phoning in his performances. Being able to honor his late hero Prodigy, the immutable Mobb Deep legend, gives this project an extra layer of importance, feeling like everything this year had been leading up to this moment, a celebration of the life and values of the man who lent so much of his skill set to Flee Lord. The fact that Havoc is behind the boards on this one feels only right, coming with a spread of beats that are a bit slower and old-fashioned than I’ve heard Flee rap over before, but they feel right in the context of an “Infamous Mobb” tape. Subdued samples and punchy drums are the game here, not quite feeling like true 90’s hardcore as much as it is a blend of those older styles and a more 2010’s sample-fest. The guests are a great reason to tune into this project as well: old legends like Busta Rhymes, Raekwon, and Big Twins, and well as modern legends like Ransom and Conway the Machine make this one of the most star-studded releases in Flee’s 2020 run. If you fuck with that hard-nosed Mobb shit, this will be for you.

Spotify/YouTube/Apple Music

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Jackboy – Love Me While I’m Here

Cover Artist: [Unknown]

I did not know until this project that this kid is actually from Florida; I was more than convinced that I had been listening to a melodic rapper from Chicago, given that his similarities with rappers like Lil Durk and Calboy go deep and run far. But upon really listening to this project, I can hear where someone like Kodak Black would enter into Jackboy’s mind, a serious yet occasionally whimsical and accent-laden pop-trap. I need to say something however: Jackboy, if you’re reading, please change your name bro. I appreciate the name, I really do, and it sucks that it has to be this way, but people out there are getting confused between you and the Travis JACKBOYS imprint. I didn’t know this guy was a thing until well after he had come out, because I just simply didn’t know the difference. All of that being said, I think that this album is a good enough statement of an artist who is serious about his career, being filled to the BRIM with amazing beats and quality features. Jackboy as a rapper is a bit of a blank slate, but on this album he can hold his own against rappers with a little bit more of a defined personality, posturing himself as one of those street gangstas with a heart of gold, able to pull off serviceable melodies. I do think the true enjoyment of the project comes with the great beats and the huge number of identifiable guests, one after the other with cats like Sada Baby, Denzel Curry, Kodak Black, and 42 Dugg. While I’m a bit behind on this Jackboy wave, I’d say this project puts him squarely in my “artists to watch” list.

Spotify/YouTube/Apple Music

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-------SOUP’S HOT DEALS-------

Navy Blue – Songs Of Sage: Post Panic!

Investment: $20.00

Cover Artist: John Singletary

Something that I’ve always loved about Navy Blue, but has never connected with me until this project, is how personal and intimate you get with the artist through his lyrics. He is rapping directly about his feelings, his sorrows, and his triumphs, with almost no embellishment in regards to his story. You aren’t getting bars bragging on his rap skills or how shit his competitors are: this is a man merely trying to explain his struggles to his audience, poetically bringing us in to a sort of esoteric therapy session where we all sit and work through our problems together. There are some incredibly touching moments on here, talking about the relationships with his loved ones like his Father, remembering times whenever life just didn’t seem as difficult, and coming to grips with the very real thoughts of suicide that creep up in the most diseased of states. Where some of you might hit a stumbling block is in Navy’s delivery: the man is very cut and dry, rapping in a monotone that can be compared to a every-so-slightly more energetic Ka, a sapped and dejected delivery that is able to convey a spectrum of emotions ranging from sharp pain to bittersweet victory. It’s a limited sound, but one that, if you give it the time to unfold, will prove to be as compelling as any other underground rapper, perhaps even more so than your conventional philosopher-rapper. I’m seen a lot of people out there compare him as a “knock-off” of Ka’s style, but I see of it more like this: Ka is rapping about the experiences he’s gone through, presenting you’re his story from a position of wisdom and growth, whereas Navy Blue is going through his struggles *right now*, with the ups-and-downs associated with that being performed for you in real time, a much more relatable strain on the emotions. Instrumentally we’re looking at a hazy, looped-sample, and mostly drumless album, filled with short tracks that barely go over three minutes, a perfect length to be able to digest the lyrical themes and the soulful beat and then move on. It’s a long album, by far the longest he’s released at over 50 minutes, but he breaks up the album with a couple of huge features: Maxo is a no-brainer, given that the two occupy a very similar space in todays game, but getting not only billy woods, who has one of the best verses on this thing, but also getting Yasiin-fucking-Bey to drop and ACTUAL verse on this motherfucker is something more special than many people realize. This is Navy’s most complete, aesthetically pleasing, deep, and well-produced/featured project yet, and I can’t wait to see where this young man takes his skills in the future.

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Ru$h & Neako – Supreme Fashion Raps

Investment: $20.20

Cover Artist: FRKO

Those guys over in Delaware are all about dropping shorter projects with lots of features, something I am 100% on board with given the quality they consistently turn out. If you follow what I got going on over here at Tha Soup Dude’s Kitchen, you should be familiar with my man Ru$h by now, the flyest and most pimpish dude out of DE right now, matching the energies of his cohorts Jay NiCE and Left Lane Didon, and he comes with pretty much the same energy on this new project as well. In fact, this would be pretty much the same project sonically as Ru$h’s last, Fendi Don, were it not for one addition to the formula: a guy named Neako, who I had never heard of before this project but who I’ve done a little research on and gotten a better of understanding of. Neako has been around in the game for well over a decade, coming up in the same scene as guys like Wiz Khalifa, but over the years he has become better known for his fashion brand LVL, and a string of mixtapes that represent that fashion identity. That he appears on this project makes sense given that Ru$h is very much involved in speaking on fashion in hip-hop, but has me wondering how these two dudes actually met, because while it is a rapper-rapper pairing that sounds good, it seems very out of left field. Not only do they rap well together, but they bring in the best rappers and producers available to them to build up this EP into something truly special. Jay NiCE has some fire on this bitch, three verses on three different tracks that seem to get better than better, and Estee Nack joins the guys on the first track for some real rappidy-rap shit. JLVSN and Yosonova have their hands all in the beats on this project, so you know you’re getting some of the smoothest, slickest samples in the game too. A short project, but one with tons of swagger and solid one-liners (and cloth-talk), one that I would recommend for you fans of Roc Marciano out there.

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Leaf Dog & Farma Beats – Consume

Investment: £10.00 (~$13.50)

Cover Artist: The Amazing Morf

I’ve been familiar with the work of Leaf Dog for a while now, being one of my favorite emcees from London (and being apart of one of my favorite hip-hop groups, The Four Owls), having already enjoyed his other work that came out this year, both in solo capacity (Live From The Balrog Chamber) and in a group setting (the long awaited Nocturnal Instinct, the third album from The Four Owls). I have always loved his drunken and depraved style of rapping, warbling through his raps with a reckless and ODB-inspired energy, although he felt a bit naked in my eyes without the help of his Owls. I went into this project expecting a Leaf Dog project produced by Farma Beats, a prospect that I was excited for given how much I love Farma’s beats, so I was extremely surprised to find that not only is Leaf Dog taking over the majority of the production on this project, but Farma Beats is here as a *rapper*, a skill that I had no idea he had. To be fair, I had only first heard of this dude sometime last year so maybe this is common knowledge, but I truly had no idea that Farma Beats has a rapping career, and I’m even more surprised to find that the dude is actually good as fuck. Farma has this voice that could fit well into the Verb T spot in the Four Owls Line up, being a nice deep bass of a voice to Leaf Dog’s tinny yelps, creating this great one-two punch on every track going back and forth between the two styles. It’s a great thing that Leaf Dog is so adept at channeling that old DJ Premier energy in his beats, because that’s exactly the kind of vibes these two emcees glide over: simple repetitive hooks that are either Leaf belting out some crazy shit or a smooth vocal flip/DJ scratching session, beats that have a solid knock you can bob your head to, and straight bars from all contenders. We also get a couple of appearances from some close collaborators: it wouldn’t be a Leaf Dog related project without Smellington Piff on here, and we get a welcome appearance from fellow Owl BVA. If you want that old school Gangstarr shit, some happy-go-lucky sample-based golden-age shit with a British spin, then this is your stop for this week.

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Revenge Of The Truence & Dros Beats – Revenge Of Hieronymus

Investment: $15.00

Cover Artist: [Unknown]

The ROT boys have dropped a few projects this year that I have thoroughly enjoyed; Slims 2 was in my rotation for a while because of the great chemistry that the two guys, Muggz on Drugz and Tay Dayne, and an amazing spread of weird boom-bap samples, a higher-brow brand of raw hip-hop that is rare to see right off the jump (or at least rare to see from a group I had never heard of). The duo is a back-and-forth kind of relationship, with Muggz being a more explosive yet cerebral emcee, while Tay occupies a scuzzier and easier-going persona. You get tons of great wordplay on this, nimble and quick rap flows, and hilarious bars with lots of violence, girl-stealing, and flexing while blazing up. While Slims 2 was helmed by King David Beats on the instrumentals, this time around we get a true collaborative experience between the Truence and a guy named Dros Beats (also called Hieronymus Dros), a Melbourne-based producer whose understanding of mainline NY hip-hop is about as pure as them come; this is some real movas and shakers music, classic horn samples, rolling drum kits (great use of snares across this thing), and a distinct sense of funk gives this a more lively but also basement-y feel. No frills on this one: if you want some true 90’s New York feelings, you won’t find a more authentic experience this week.

Spotify/Apple Music

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Reed Stepp – Nigel’s Day Out

Investment: $10.00

Cover Artist: Reed Stepp

My guy Reed has finally dropped his debut album, and, after listening to this, I can’t be more proud of him. Reed uses his music as a way to explore both the traumas and the victories in his life, spurred along by a sense of a mental duality within himself. He raps from two different perspectives on his songs, a sort of Jekyll and Hyde situation he has going on. He can rap from the standpoint of himself, Reed, who is an incredibly nice, easygoing, and talented individual who wants the world to know his name in the hip-hop game; this is the persona most found on his initial mixtape, a more honest telling of who Reed is as a person in his normal life, seeking recognition for his talent in music. But the other side of that coin is a character that he calls Nigel Erbein, a selfish and antagonistic hyperbeing whose goal is not only to advance his agenda and quell his desires, but also makes it his mission to shit on Reed as much as he can. You can call it anxiety, self-doubt, or insecurity, but Nigel really represents the struggle of a creative mind, something that Reed, instead of shoving those feelings down deep into his belly, parades around and makes the centerpiece of his album, as a way to tell people that “hey, we are all going through the same shit man”. Reed raps in this very down to earth and early proto-hip-hop way, dancing from one line to the other frivolously; he is clearly enjoying himself on some tracks, but on others you can feel the toll that Nigel has on his thinking, a relentless negative energy that Reed comes up to address often to prevent the narrative from getting too manic. The entire project is produced by a guy named Guseven Beats, a beatmaker operating out of Brazil who did a lot of work on Reed’s initial project as well, coming with a similarly old and rustic style of instrumentals, simple yet nostalgic loops that are great canvases for Reed’s colorful storytelling and wordplay. Everybody out there go give Reed some love; a hometown hero for me as far as I’m concerned, I’m honored to be able to say that Tulsa, OK made this guy.

Spotify/YouTube/Apple Music

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Asun Eastwood & Wizdome Bunitall – Let Me Talk My Shit

Investment: $25.00

Cover Artist: Yann Couedor

I’ve been following Mr. Eastwood for a minute now, and I haven’t heard a project or feature from him yet that has let me down. He’s been on every album of note coming out of Toronto this year, in addition to having already dropped two projects of his own so far: the disgustingly gutter Sewer Science with Vago, and a powerhouse of Canadian talent with Bite the Bullet, a collaborative effort with Daniel Son produced entirely by Futurewave. This time Asun comes with another producer, a guy by the name of Wizdome Bunitall, whose work I was entirely unfamiliar with before this project (this may even be his first project as far as I can reckon) but whose sampling talents are on full display. I’ve heard many if the chops and loops he uses here before in other contexts, so there’s a sense that the man only uses the best he can find, but I also enjoy being able to hear Eastwood over some instrumentals and samples that I have enjoyed in the contexts of other artists a well, making this project feel like a super high-quality mixtape to my ears. Asun should need little introduction: he is a bombastic and spit-flinging traditional emcee, loud and authoritative with his opinions and threats, whose story is one worth listening and his rhymes ones worth paying close attention to, gliding over these smooth samples as well as he does any others. We get guys like Family Gang Black and Raz Fresco on the assist here too (along with the Americans Estee Nack and M.A.V.), so check this shit out if you want another dose of what Canada has to offer underground hip-hop.

==> Asun's Website <==

Spotify

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38 Spesh – Interstate 38

Investment: $11.99

Cover Artist: Manuel “Cep” Concepcion

It’s actually been a minute since Spesh has dropped a record on his own; he’s dropped quite a few projects this year under his production umbrella, having crafted whole projects for guys like Planet Asia, Rasheed Chappell, Che Noir, and others under his Trust Gang collective. The last thing he dropped solo was his A Bullet For Every Heathen tape he did with Big Ghost (one of my favorites of last year for sure), but his last purely solo effort was his 38 Strategies of Raw which dropped damn-near two years ago now. Now, given all of his production material up to this point in 2020, I was expecting some more solid boom-bap tunes, but that is decidedly not what we get on this newest project here. You have to go all the way back to his original 38 Laws of Powder project to hear an album from Spesh that sounds like this one, a steet-wise but more processed and digitized sound, sounding like something Lloyd Banks or Jadakiss would come out with nowadays. The bars that you will know Spesh for are still here, with killer wordplay and poisonous one-liners that will have you running this shit back constantly, but instead of planting it’s roots in old-school hardcore hip-hop, we’re looking at more of a 2000’s era New York feel, a sound that people that grew up on the Wu-Tang can appreciate, but also one those younger folks who might be looking for those 50 Cent sounds can find appealing as well. 38 has made some serious connections over the year, bringing in a solid handful of artists under his banner of TRUST, so you get a large number of features on here coming to represent the leader: Klass Murda, Ransom, and Che Noir all have solid appearances, and some outside help from near-family Benny the Butcher and Elcamino round out this solid 33 minute project. If you looking for some real street-rap, complete with the bricks and the ki’s, then you are going to want to get hip to this project here.

Spotify/YouTube/Apple Music

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