Weekly Fix #3 ('21)

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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After a couple weeks of struggling to get out of bed, Album of the Year posts, cancelling my vacation, and only having an exhausting job and a funeral to look forward to……….. I’m tired y’all. I’m sorry it’s taken so long to get this out, especially with only a few albums on here, but every time I sat down to write anything my mind just went *poof*. Maybe some of y’all can relate, and maybe some of y’all don’t think what I do here is necessarily “creative”, but it’s hard to write anything when your mind is mush; try it sometime.

All of this is a short way of saying that I’m taking Week #4 (’21) off; I’ll still listen to what comes out as I can, and I’ll still be writing when I can, but I won’t feel constrained to a timeline during a week when my job/travelling are going to be BITCHES, and fitting time in for TSDK work is going to be a nightmare anyway. I hope y’all understand, and I’ll be back with a Week #5 that encompasses two weeks, hopefully larger than the past few weeks of only a couple albums.

THROUGH ALL OF THIS DOOM AND GLOOM I don’t want to distract from the fact that I am very proud of my Top Ten list for 2020. I appreciate all of the support, all of your own lists posted in response, and your willingness to check out projects you hadn’t heard before. Maybe next year I can do a longer list with more entries, or even do a post of other albums besides the Top Ten, but it just wasn’t meant to be this year. Peace to all of the artists who received a spot.

This week on the Fix we have three albums: the new generation of Wu-Children comes of age to drop their own project, RJ Payne drops another project to keep us fed, and I get a chance to get into another Cousin Feo project and learn a little about Football along the way. Like I said earlier, Week #5 (’21) should be bigger given that it’s going to be two weeks combined, so stay tuned.

I also want to introduce a little section I’ll have at the very bottom of my Weekly Fixes going forward called “New To Streaming”. I realize that a lot of you use streaming services, but will help out an artist whenever you can when they’re posted in my Hot Deals section. However, to give people as much of a chance to listen to the music as possible, I’m going to try and keep tabs on the projects that didn’t make it to streaming services on their initial release, and give you a reminder down below whenever a previously unreleased project gets a streaming placement. This section may not be here every week depending (this week we just have Pounds’ recent Die Enormous LP), but for all of my streaming cats I would pay attention to this section to get even more music.

There are a few albums to look forward to in the coming weeks. Right now I’m listening to albums like Hus Kingpin’s Portishus, Lil Skies’ Unbothered, and Peewee Longway’s Longway Sinatra 2, so those will be written about on the next post for sure. Next week we’re looking at another Musalini project, a collab album between Bronze Nazareth & Leaf Dog, and Chip’s long-awaited full length project. Tap into all of this and more over at my Upcoming Heat page, which is a handy calendar to keep up with stuff coming out in the near future.

Y’all are the best. All of my readers and all of you artists: musicians, painters, illustrators, mixers, engineers, and producers. Sometimes it can be tough, but Hip-Hop will always pull me back into a healthy place.

Peace.

Here’s a link to the Week #3 (’21) Playlists

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Here’s a link to the Week #3 (‘21) Singles

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Here’s a link to the Week #3 (’21) Art Appreciation post

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2nd Generation Wu – Hereditary

Cover Artist: [Unknown]

If you know me at all, you know I have deep love for the Wu-Tang, every album and every member. It seems that this love transcends generations, because I now have deep love for the children of the Wu-Tang as well. However, the 2nd Generation Wu (….. not crazy on the name but at least it gets the point across very clearly) is not nearly as cohesive and well-wrought as the sterling group of their Fathers’: there is a loose union of iNTeLL, U-God’s son, and PXWER, son of Method Man, but beyond these two you get a smattering of appearances from others who may fit within the mantle of “2nd Generation Wu-Tang”, but don’t seem as invested in the group. Sun God and Supreme, both sons of Ghostface Killah, are fiery and passionate emcees, while Young Dirty Bastard, whose father you can easily guess, only makes a single appearance on the nostalgic 7.O.D. Pxro, son of Masta Killa, who serves as a feature on one of the earlier tracks, makes probably the clearest connection to his father (besides Young Dirty of course) interpolating a lot of the stylings of his father’s verse on Da Mystery of Chessboxin’. As for the rapping abilities, you’ll find shades of the greatness of the original Wu-Tang lineup, but I wouldn’t go so far as to say that the Clan are back as much as I’m willing to say that the potential for greatness shines bright on Heredity. The beats are slightly more processed and fresh-sounding, playing more upon the nostalgia of the RZA’s sample-heavy style than trying to forge their own lanes; there are even a few attempts at truly modern sounding beats, which go over well enough but aren’t quite what I’m looking for going into the project. All of this might sound harsh, but it comes from a place of love; knowing how much respect I have for the Wu, comparing them to one another should already be a sign that I fuck with this heavy, so take that and go and listen to this.

Spotify/YouTube/Apple Music

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RJ Payne – THE Payne Tape

Cover Artist: [Unknown]

Payne, Leatherface himself, has shown a completely different side of himself over the past few months of releases. His Beautiful Payne series has been a heavy pivot into more serious subject matters, sometimes coming across as preachy but coming otherwise with heartfelt tales of his emotional struggles, and the struggles of those living in the ghettoes and inner cities around America. He dials back his bombastic style ever-so-slightly to speak on these issues, an big difference from an album like, say, He’s A Fuckin Animal, where he’s eating and slaying every track with bars about decapitating people and curbstomping his enemies into dust. It’s a welcome change of pace, especially if it runs alongside his already established content to give him even more depth, with the conviction and passion of his delivery and voice lending weight to his opinions and tragic stories. The beats are a lot like those found on the Beautiful Payne series as well: less hardnosed Griselda sample-bangers and more of a constructed and positive vibe, like the beats Mr. Porter would come out with back in the day. There are only five tracks on here, and there are no features to speak of (my only beef with the tape), so there isn’t much more to say: if you fuck with great lyrics, powerful presences, and uplifting beats, give this a shot.

Spotify/YouTube/Apple Music

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-------SOUP’S HOT DEALS-------

Cousin Feo – Patat

Investment: €29.00 (~$36.00)

Cover Artist: Kat Arrou

I remember back to Feo’s Belegen Kaas project from a while ago, my first exposure to a full project from the Football-obsessed California emcee, and think that this project is simply more of what makes the man so unique and great. He’s still yelling across the project in that gruff and elevated voice, similar to a guy like Daniel Son (I’ve been thinking all week of who he reminds me of, but I could never put my finger on it… Sean Price maybe?) in his delivery and energy, and he’s still expert with the wordplay and his flow. But, more than anything, and what is probably the most important to his image as an artist, is his never-ending stream of references to famous footballers, fields, games, and clubs around the world, something I know nothing about whatsoever, but that I can appreciate nonetheless. Being able to keep to the theme for the entire project (even despite it’s relatively short length) is very impressive, referencing dozens of people across many languages that I’m unfamiliar with, but whose feats are obviously well-known in that community. What’s even greater in my opinion is how all of the guest emcees assembled here match that same energy, going to great lengths to stay within the confines of the motif; SmooVth is the star in this regard, somehow speaking in poetry about goalkeepers and other famous footballers in a way that compelling and dope. I’d say that this is better than Belegan Kaas, but juuuust by a tad, pushed over the edge with some amazing features and beats that have a mountain of life and samples. Give this a shot if you like that Toronto brand of underground hip-hop (for Feo is of that style in every way but actually living there).

==> Copenhagen Crate's Website <==

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-----NEW TO STREAMING-----

Pounds – Die Enormous

Cover Artist: Tony Caves

Read About It Here: Weekly Fix #1 (‘21)

Spotify/YouTube/Apple Music

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