Weekly Fix #19

I wasn’t feeling too many of the projects that came out this week, with many of them having great moments but ultimately ending up below my expectations. However, the singles that we got were fire as hell, more than making up for the lackluster projects.

We just released the fifth episode of TSDK Podcast, which we all think was pretty damn good. Thank you to everyone who listens! Some of you may have noticed that I restructured my homepage, streamlining all of the content to release on one page… but that also means a lot of links on Facebook/Twitter are now broken. I apologize for any inconvenience.

Here’s a link to the Week #19 Playlist for y’all

-----PROJECTS-----

Smoke DZA, Benny the Butcher, & Pete Rock – Statue of Limitations
I feel like my ears are broken, because I should love this… but I’m not feeling these beats. I know I know, speaking ill of Pete Rock is a hip-hop death sentence, but I can’t help but feel like the instrumentals are brittle and cheap. The chemistry between DZA and Benny isn’t quite there either, with DZA being a little bit more lighthearted with his “stoner” persona and Benny being a fuckin butcher. There are a couple highlights, like Conway’s appearance and 7:30, but this wasn’t the quality I expecting from this collaboration.

Spotify/YouTube/Apple Music

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clipping. – There Existed an Addiction to Blood
I honestly don’t know what to say about this one. The last track is an 18 whole-ass-minute clip of a piano on fire. There is noise-wall. There is an interlude where it’s just white noise. Daveed Diggs is a monster on the mic, but I don’t know if I can listen to half of this shit again.

Spotify/YouTube/Apple Music

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Homeboy Sandman – Dusty
Surprisingly personal album; great storytelling, good focused song topics, and, as the name of the album implies, a fantastic selection of dusty-ass beats. I would have loved to have seen more features on here, because obviously the people he hangs out with are the best spitters, with Droog and Quelle Chris destroying their verses. Homeboy’s voice is sliiighly annoying though.

Spotify/YouTube/Apple Music

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G-Eazy – Scary Nights
It’s mediocre, but it does the job. Short, good features (they really help break up the monotony), Gerald’s got swagger; I don’t know what everyone was looking for in this. EP for an album that’s going to come out in February. It’s a little harder than his last album, less of a pop influence, so if you’re looking for a dirtier G-Eazy this is it.

Spotify/YouTube/Apple Music

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Gucci Mane – Woptober II
Probably his best project since DropTopWop, this tape has a couple things going for it. The length is much more manageable, at only 13 tracks there’s minimal filler (for Guwop’s standards anyways). The beats have a harder edge, and really feel like the best effort from everyone involved (but reusing Out Do Ya’s beat on Bucking The System disappointed me). The features all kill it here too, but some of them may not be long enough. His projects have been getting better as of late, and I’m all here for it.

Spotify/YouTube/Apple Music

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24hrs – World on Fire
The main question I have here is how the *fuck* did this dude get a DMX feature? He’s gotta be X’s nephew or some shit cause I just can’t process this. It’s an alright project though; it’s like a NAV/Lil Skies project with quality beats and ok melodies. Not as good as his last project though.

Spotify/YouTube/Apple Music

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Big Turks – Big Turks “Directors Cut”
Alright this is totally cheating, but my album of the year got a new version. It adds a new Chris Crack verse on Turkish Delight, and remixes Son of Solomon to make it 10000X better with an AMAZING beat, a Rome Streetz verse, AND a Flee Lord feature. The rest of the album is same though. I had to cop the vinyl for this shit, and I don’t even have a player; it’s that good. Don’t pass up the original at least.

Bandcamp

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-------SINGLES-------

Griselda (Westside Gunn, Conway the Machine, & Benny the Butcher – Dr. Bird’s
This is some grimy motherfuckin shit right here. This beat is *perfect* for all three of these dudes to spit on. All three kill their verses, even Westside with his crazy self. What Would Chinegun Do, their Shady Records debut, is due at the end of next month, and with this single I could not be more excited.

Spotify/YouTube/Apple Music

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Ghetto Sage (Noname, Saba, & Smino) – Häagen-Dazs
I like all three of these artists, but this production style is not at all what I want from them, especially Noname. Saba can rap well enough that he fits on the instrumentals, but Smino is mixed strangely and Noname sounds like she wrote her verse for a song with a completely different beat. It’s just an awkward track, and I hope that whatever project comes out of this group does not try to go for this mainstream trap-influenced production.

Spotify/YouTube/Apple Music

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Gang Starr – Bad Name
While I do love this instrumental, and it’s always good to hear Guru again, this track has me worried about this album. If you’re second single is only two minutes and some change, with very little new vocal material, it kind of falls into the “posthumous album” trap. We’ll see what happens, but I’m afraid there’s going to be a *significant* amount of record scratching and letting the sample run on this album.

Spotify/YouTube/Apple Music

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Fred The Godson – Retaliation
Supposedly my man Fred has an album coming out this year. It seems like 38 Spesh was the man to get this shit out the door finally, and I’m not complaining. The song is fantastic; Fred the Godson is one of the grimiest out there in terms of vocals, and his lyrics are so coldblooded and vivid. The beat is fire as hell too.

Spotify/YouTube

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Merkules (Feat. Tech N9ne & Hopsin) – Bass
I never thought I would have Merkules on my iPod, but here we are. His part is ok, it’s a bit tame and his flow is lackluster but it works on the hook. Tech does his thing too, I don’t expect anything but the craziest of flow and wordplay and that’s what we got (too rappity-rap for my taste though). HOWEVER… Hopsin… he kills this shit. Amazing rhyme schemes, killer cadence, vivid lyrics. I would listen to this just for his verse alone honestly.

Spotify/YouTube/Apple Music

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Blueface (Feat. Gunna) – First Class
So much better than that last single holy shit. Blueface is actually funny here, and is on a solid majority of the song. Gunna is great on the feature (as usual), and the beat is a banger. This (and the album art for his upcoming mixtape Find the Beat) has me at least looking forward to his upcoming project.

Spotify/YouTube/Apple Music

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DJ Pharris (Feat. Chief Keef & Jeremih) – JUUG
It’s aiight. Beat is sweet, Jeremih kills his appearance, and a catchy hook. I didn’t like Sosa on here though. It kind of feels like something that would appear on a Jeremih album.

Spotify/YouTube/Apple Music

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anders (Feat. Rich The Kid) – Sticky Situation
This dude sounds *exactly* like The Weeknd; I had to check to make sure my music didn’t fuck up and switch on me. It’s still good, and we can always use more rapping Weeknd (again, not The Weeknd) so this scratches that fix. Rich The Kid is enjoyable but don’t expect him to come at you with anything remotely different from what he normally does.

Spotify/YouTube/Apple Music

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Free Nationals (Feat. Chronixx) – Eternal Light
Loving this low-key reggae cut. Chronixx’s voice is so expressive, and the instrumental doesn’t get in the way of his performance at all. But that’s also kind of a downside here, given it’s a Free Nationals track I expected more from the *main artist*. I had similar issues with their last single with JID; this just feels like a Chronixx track.

Spotify/YouTube/Apple Music

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Wiki  – Fee Fi Fo Fum
Wik released two singles in a pack, and the first is definitely the best one. It’s a high-paced trap banger with a really cool reversed guitar/horn sample? Wiki is his normal weird self, but with a lot more animation than what I’ve seen from his recently. Hopefully an album is coming out of this.

Spotify/YouTube/Apple Music

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Wiki (Feat. Cleo Jones) – Smarty Jones
The second Wiki single. Not feeling this one as much on the instrumental level, but Wiki is better with the lyrics on this one, being more personal about people’s perception of him. This one has a feature on it, which I think is a needless addition and doesn’t really add much to the track.

Spotify/YouTube/Apple Music

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