Collector's Choice Awards 2022

What's good? I hope everyone out there in the rap world had a great year. I know I did. I had another daughter this year, did some exciting stuff career wise and of course collected lots of vinyl.

I was mostly busy on the Dad front so a lot of my collecting was through online deliveries. I do, however, miss the meditative process of digging through the crates at whatever shop I find myself in across town. I think overall 2022 had some really strong releases. I collected more vinyl this year than I ever have before and packed up a lot of stuff for future Discogs postings. I'm not quite ready to launch all that I plan on selling but it's set aside and for the most part appraised to a decently competitive price.

All throughout the year I made sure to set aside some of my favourite joints from the year. There's a bit of a pattern of dark boom bap leanings. Other stuff is glossier and more accessible. Some topical while some more abstract. Some songs got a decent splash of journalistic coverage and some others I'm happy to put anyone onto. You get it eh? Good. All songs are pretty much number one for me I just ordered them to be in the most playlist friendly pattern. Let's get into it...

DJ Muggs has been pretty prolific these past few years with his high volume business model. With every album he pairs up with great underground voices to compliment their catalog as well as his own. This year he began work on the third installment of his Soul Assassins Collections series. The first one in the late 90's is a very underappreciated classic. I think the second one dropped in the early 2000's I just haven't found it anywhere on vinyl or CD yet. The second single to launch from Volume 3 is my first pick for my list. 

Street Made features Scarface as well as Freddie Gibbs. Freddie has spoken in all kinds of interviews the extent of Faces's influence on his style and this song is great. Both these MCs actually worked together on Freddie's $oul $old $eperately album as well. But I like this beat a little bit more. Muggs laces lumbering drums loops over synth loops and echoing vocal samples. Scarface is as cold blooded as ever spitting about being an old man in a world where most die young. I love his line of "If you a father better raise your son/ If you a mother pray those days don't come." I love a writer who can say so much with just two sentences. His verse gets carried away atop these vocal lines like this song has this beauty to it despite how much evil is being rapped about. Freddie Gibbs enters the song with a punchier flow and similar imagery. That line about rigor mortis setting in and his murder victim stuck in "freeze frame" is pretty hard too. Overall we have Muggs, a producer who's been on the cutting edge for thirty years, Scarface who's influence expands across decades of hardcore hip-hop and the mafioso genre and Freddie Gibbs lending his ever ascending skill level from his current run into a great piece of work.

If you've been following any amount of hip-hop news in the past five years then the meteoric rise of Griselda Records is something you should be up on. Benny The Butcher spent the first half of the 2010's being signed to 38 Spesh under his Trust label. With both these guys having such a rich history of collaborations and contributions to rap in upstate NY, no project from either of these guys is often without them pairing together for a song. Benny finished his four album deal for Empire Distribution with Tana Talk 4.

I could've picked a few different songs here for my list but I think this one highlights what I liked about the album the best. Uncle Bun lands about halfway through the album. Benny and Spesh trade some great punchlines over an excellent Daringer beat. I know some folks weren't too keen on Burden Of Proof because of Hit-Boy and his glossier production but TT4 comes in with the rank efforts from Daringer and Alchemist. Every song is a great return to form. I love this particular song though for it's structure. Daringer weaves haunting string sections and slow light snares. It's one of the slower and darker songs in Benny's catalog but the punchlines and trades are what really landed this one on the list for me. 38 saying he had a "Clip longer than a script from a motion pic" reminds me of how he was also my favourite feature on Benny's first Plugs I Met EP a few years back too. Actually, this time around I like the Daringer productions more than the Alchemist beats on Tana Talk 4. Back in 2018 in the third installment of the series I thought Alchemist had the harder beats. Between this album and a couple others from 2022, there was a lot of Daringer to hear.

Most of this past summer consisted of me rockin to the debut record from C-Lance. From January to June we heard single after single from his debut The Undying Flame. I think I had this entire album in my Spotify top 100 playlist. But to definitively pick only one was a tough choice. My major concern for this record was how well C-Lance was going to coordinate song ideas and structure a cohesive tone and message. I never had doubt that I'd enjoy the beats on this album but, would these combinations of artists result in robust song topics? I think he proves himself to be a pretty solid curator across this record.

The track I ended up picking is a few songs in on Side B of the vinyl. Book Of Life begins with excellent bursts of horn sections and plucky piano keys. C-Lance recruits MURS for the first verse hot off the release of the 7" C-Lance produced for MURS after he fulfilled his tenure at Strange Music. The song succeeds at being an uplifting piece of advice for the listener. Justin Cohen absolutely soars on this chorus reinforcing themes of persistence and hard work. RA The Rugged Man pulls through with some excellent acrobatic flows and syllable schemes as well. I love the different ways each MC attack this beat too. In fact, MURS and RA hadn't worked together prior to this song and it turned out great. Rugged Man takes a more conscious approach teaching the listener to stay weary of government misinformation and the dilution of our third eye and MURS encourages us to not giving up on our goals. All three vocalists are on point in this composition. There's numerous joints on this record I could've picked but this one just brightens my mood and works on a songwriting front especially well.

Scratching a similar itch to what the Griselda boys have done across the 2010's is the catalogs of both Roc Marciano and The Alchemist. NY state has finally returned that classic boom bap sound with lots of acts pushing the envelope of that style forward. Overall I think the collaborative record from Roc and Al, The Elephant Mans Bones is a consistent listen. I wish Alchemist came a bit harder with the drums overall but Marci pens some of his best songs on this record regardless. I was worried that these guys would just cancel each other out with a competition of minimalism. 

That clash of quiet on quiet does happen to an extent on some songs where Marci's delivery lulls me to sleep over an equally quiet beat. Though for the most part Alchemists knack for composing varied and extravagant boom bap and Marci's witty lyricism and spacious line delivery come together in a very impressive way. Especially around the front end of Side B here with Zig Zag Zig. I love the instrumental swell that kicks off the track as the drums tumble in amongst these cascading piano arpeggios. Though some of this record has better song structure than this song I think just the cinematography of this instrumental and Rocs pen game is what made me choose this one. Whether he writes "It's pouring, quarter mill in jewels Flash Gordon/Wrap the foreign, rap like water it's formless" or pretending to have Alzheimer's disease when he's asked to take the stand. I could do with another LP from these guys together there's still room for some experimenting I think.

Though the actual album that this song comes from isn't out as of February 2023, this track dropped on Halloween night as the fourth of five singles. Ill Bill's upcoming album Billy took shape as Bill slowly released each song one at a time. The marketing started over the summer with familiar faces being advertised on the features like Immortal Technique, Sick Jacken, Lord Goat, Nems, Vinnie Paz and Kool G Rap. Oh did I mention that the last two guys are featured on this next song? It's also produced by DJ Muggs in case it didn't sound like a big enough slap already.

Root For The Villain is among the hardest and grimiest picks on this list. Quick runs of piano keys pepper a back drop of tribal chants and an unrelenting drum set. I love Bill's gruesome imagery and syllable schemes. He rhymes apparitions, smack addictions and black syringes as he hops from mafioso topics to cult worshiping and his lengthy verse is perfectly paired with each guest. Kool G Rap paints a wicked picture of drug packaging and extravagant villas. Vinnie Paz is just a madman on the tail end from his hilarious adlibs to the violent descriptions of rampaging with whatever gun he can describe in his rhymes. High quality ignorance that has me desperate for a third installment of Heavy Metal Kings.

The horrorcore continues in my next choice. All four of the artists involved have amassed a lot of great releases in recent years. I was initially trying to lump together however many songs Recognize Ali and Lord Goat had accumulated on anticipation for their upcoming collab album when I stumbled on an entirely different duo. Blizz From Juice had caught my attention on that Final Expenses album from Lord Goat and Stu Bangas and Boob Bronx had rocked on two songs with Vinnie Paz back in 2021. So randomly I noticed these guys had an album together in the works and that album also featured Rec Ali and Lord on it.

These four MCs pull through with a great demonstration of violence on the cut Wrong Way. It's my favourite posse cut of the year. H Dot does a great job on the production with keys and pounding kick drums. It's just one savage verse after the other and the drums have this spectacular breakdown as well. Each guys stands out with their delivery and the album that this song lands on, Motley Crue Phones, has lots of other great tracks too. Blizz and Boob are both from Rochester NY and other guys from the scene like V Don and Eto got production creds here. The album overall kind of went under the radar a bit but it a really solid listen with good chemistry between the two guys. I felt like shouting out this one for the relentless beat and I think the overall crown jewel is Lord Goats verse. If Army Of The Pharaohs isn't going to be musically active anymore then guy like Blizz and Boob fill that space pretty well.

I don't think it's possible for a Black Thought release to dodge an end of the year list for anybody. I mean there's probably some dumbass out there sleeping on this record that's them though. Cheat Codes was finally released in September of last year. Thought and production wizard Danger Mouse had been slowly crafting the idea of a collaboration since back in 2018 under the pseudonym Dangerous Thoughts. The bulk of this album is packed with rich sampling choices from psychedelic and progressive rock from the 60's and 70's atop very detailed drum work. The features across this record are excellent in range too as legends like Raekwon and the late MF DOOM land amongst newer faces like A$AP Rocky, Run The Jewels, Russ, Joey Bada$$ and Conway The Machine.

Considering the elusiveness of MF DOOM during his lifetime and the fact that this is the first hip-hop record from Danger Mouse since the 2000's, I want to highlight the track Belize. Black Thought delivers a dense and detailed verse as does DOOM. There's other songs on the album that are faster and more visceral than the song I'm highlighting as Cheat Codes feels like a natural evolution from a lot of recent releases from Black Thought. It's more robust and varied than Streams Of Thought parts 1 and 2 and feels like more of a continuation of the third volume in that series. I'm not entirely sure how much posthumous material is out there in the DOOM estate so this could be one of the last DOOM verses ever recorded as well. The production on this song is somber from its slowed horns and acoustic guitar plucking. It's gentle and a pretty good demonstration of all three artists involved.

There's some albums that are just incredible at capturing the landscape and cultural moment of a particular year. I remember the vivid accuracy Run The Jewels brought to 2020 with RTJ4 and what Serial Killers did on Summer Of Sam that year as well. When it comes to albums that incapsulate 2022 for me the choice is clear with Junk's WAKE ME UP WHEN IT'S OVER. Whether you're fed up with directionless millennial culture, exhausted from social media, disgusted from whatever nonsense government policies you had to slug it out through in the thick of the pandemic... this record is pretty spot on. As far as conceptual albums I was really impressed with the cohesion of this whole thing. We have zero features on the vocal side nor do we really need any as Junk hops in and out of all kinds of eras of hip-hop music. I'm hearing influences from Outkast, Lil Wayne, Drake among others.

I want to particularly highlight THERE'S GOTTA BE MORE from around the mid point of the record. Whether he's calling rappers out for wearing foreign clothing brands rather than investing in their own communities or lamenting about the brutal rates that streaming services pay to artists. Production wise it's has more trap leanings than the rest of my list but for the aesthetic of the album, I.R. Evans meets the moment with textured drums and winding hi hats. So much of the overall album has that through line of just being disillusioned with the world around him and seeing Junk take aim at his peers and the greater pursuit of artists to even feed themselves I think was a necessary topic. Especially with the tracks preceding it tackling issues of our current opioid crisis, the comparison culture and need to flex for social media, realizing the power artists have, particular in a genre like hip-hop, it's great to see Junk wary of the responsibility of MCing.

Similar to what we saw towards the end of the 2010's with the Buffalo hip-hop scene garnering international attention the 2020's have been witness to a similar creative explosion out of Richmond, Virginia. The collective Mutant Academy has stood out to me for a few reasons. Whether its the impressive production prowess of Graymatter and Foisey, or any number of great mixtapes and EPs from guys like Big Kahuna OG, Henry LO or their de facto leader Fly Anakin.

My first exposure to any of these guys came from Graymatters production of the Conway tape EIF2: Eat What U Kill and Jaguar On Palisade from Crimeapple that same year. Then who could forget Evidence with his tremendous Graymatter produced single that kicked off his entire album cycle for Unlearning Vol. 1 towards the beginning of Covid. Fly Anakin himself ended up rapping on that album and that had me on the lookout for any music from him. His debut album Frank dropped this past July and I'm choosing to pick the song Black Be The Source off that record. From its chunky drums loops to low and reverbed piano runs from producer DJ Harrison to excellent guest appearances from Pink Siifu and Billz Egypt, this track stuck with me for the rest of the year. Lots of afro-centric lyrics can be heard across the whole album and the production is a feast given the credits from Madlib, Evidence and numerous Mutant Academy members. They way Siifu enters the song is incredible and Anakins dexterous syllable schemes combine with Billz Egypt singing to deliver a great message. These are black artists who know the value their art and humanity has brought not only to current year but the greater conversation of black contributions to American history, something Siifu particularly alludes to in his verse. Sonically I'm just a sucker for seeing numerous vocalists all tackle a beat is vastly different ways. This one really came together.

The artistic direction of Space Kamp continued to impress me again this year as well. I absolutely loved their sophomore LP Electric Lemonade from 2020 for the way it balanced the aesthetics of hip-hop, rock and reggae thanks to Adlib and Oskees authentic performances and Rob The Vikings consistently colourful and psychedelic instrumentation. Their third album landed in June of this past year and diverted even further from hip-hop and leaned particularly into psychedelia and reggae. I think vocally and melodically Adlib and Oskee are pushing the boundaries even further. This entire album is catchy and full of heart. Whether their celebrating tour life and the open road or soaring above synthesizers for clever weed anthems, this is a diverse record that covers a lot of stylistic bases.

I think this record gets the most exciting the furthest it drifts from hip-hop actually and the cut that I'm plucking from this record really captures that. Fast Times blends guitar strumming and Rob The Vikings tight drum programming. Adlib and Oksee glide through fantastic vocal lines while still maintaining the lyrical anchors of their Rebel Hippies movement and fanbase. I like how they're able to balance the vocal effects without disrupting the tambour of their voices. There's a great use of breakdowns and this chorus will never leave your head.

Chronologically this next choice was the first song I heard this year. Similar to Blizz & Boob from earlier in this list we're going back to Rochester NY for this next choice. Another fantastic rap collective from recent years is Da Cloth. So when it came time for Cloth alumni Rigz to cook up an album with DJ Muggs I was totally sold. Some of Muggs tailored albums don't always result in my favourite production from him but the drums and dark metallic perks throughout this album are excellent.

Late 2021 DJ Muggs took to social media to announce the discovery of hundred of tapes and samples he had lost throughout the 1990's. The Rigz and Muggs album, titled Gold was the first release to feature these retooled time capsule instrumentals. So much of the drums and effects across the album are over twenty years old and these sounds result in some really refreshing styles. Towards the middle chunk of this record on the track Heads On The Wall Rigz trades verses with Rome Streetz over very quick drums and sparse piano melodies. Most of the revivalist movements that mimic 90's production do so with slower beats per minute so to see this one truly encapsulate that era right down to the eighth note cymbals was awesome. Seeing Rome Streetz slice his way through feature after feature in recent years has definitely caught my attention and Rigz cleans up on the back end too with his own smoky delivery and bars. I had a few contenders from this album that just missed this list actually. A strong release from everybody across the whole thing.

As I alluded to earlier with my coverage of Benny and Spesh, the Griselda soundman Daringer had a pretty blow out year. The main thing that excited me about Daringers music this year was his long awaited collaboration with Queens MC Meyhem Lauren. I've been a huge fan of what Daringer does far back as the Conways tape G.O.A.T. in 2017. If you zoom out on the whole Griselda movement much of their meteoric rise was made possible through Daringer tailoring his style of boom bap to each member. The album he produced for Meyhem Lauren definitely scratches that itch for what it felt to be a Griselda fan from 2016-19 when there was just slap after slap from Daringer.

As Conway, Benny and Westside Gunn have all expanded their production team and raised their profiles to major label levels I'd be lying if I said I didn't miss the purity of an all Daringer project. Meyhem Lauren has always been a guy on my radar since he kicked off much of the Soul Assassins run with his own Muggs album in 2017. So knowing his capability for chemistry and how much I loved Daringers sound I was ecstatic to see their album Black Vladimir come together this past fall. One of the lead singles Trigger Point Therapy set the bar high and it's remained one of my favourite tracks. Daringer brings very heavy open drums for the first half of the song as Westside Gunn paint pictures of violent prison hits before he hands the mic to Meyhem Lauren. Lauren just takes off with breathless delivery in one of my favourite rap performances this year. There's all kinds of great syllable work and quotables and just when you think the song is wrapping up, Daringer brings in the old beat from Eric B from volume 2 of the the HWH that Meyhem continues to flow over effortlessly. Daringer is in rare form across most of thus record but Meyhem is truly a madman with their pen and this one is a great example.

Following another prolific producer that I've been following for years is Stu Bangas. A definite high water mark of his own catalog would be the year 2020, as he locked in to fund and produce albums for numerous MCs like Mr. Lif, Lord Goat, Nowaah The Flood, Recognize Ali as well as the final installment into his and Blacastans Watson & Holmes album series. As I watched Stu continue to expand his resume I started tapping into RJ Payne and his trails of destruction. Whether its freestyles or a constant stream of mixtapes, RJ Payne is always working and pushing himself. With his If Cocaine Could Talk and Leatherface mixtapes getting bigger and bigger features and bolder themes, when I heard he was adding Stu Bangas to his own catalog I was intrigued to what direction these guys would take.

My Life Iz A Movie is the first collaboration between these two guys and it's notable for a couple of reasons. For starters, it's an interconnected story about RJ Payne exploring all the boroughs of New York City. Structurally, all the talent for freestyling is applied to these free flowing verses as Payne ditches choruses and features for this Hamilton style narration of his holiday in New York. We get acrobatic syllable schemes as RJ stays on topic and on beat across this very unique and impressive album. I think one of the stand out tracks here has to be TOP DOWN IN HARLEM towards the third act of the record. Stu Bangas dips into his trap bag with snappier snares and funky synth leads. RJ Payne moves from one landmark street in Harlem to the next as he reflects on his come up and relationships with Ice T and the late DJ Kay Slay. So many artists endured the 2000's to gain a following today and RJ Payne looking back at his earliest supporters in the industry over some catchy production. This album as a whole flipped a lot of my expectations for what Stu and Payne would do together.

As I've already alluded to lots in this list, I'm pretty biased towards Griselda records. We could go on forever about Shady Records and their lackluster support of albums that aren't from Eminem or Yelawolf but, if you're relying on the marketing budgets of record labels to turn you onto new music then I can't help you fam. I would love to see guys like Conway The Machine have a larger audience sure, but a small passionate fanbase that will consistently buy your pre order bundles is infinitely more valuable than some fair weather steaming fans. This direct to consumer, limited drop marketing style has been the backbone of Griselda records rise to prominence since the 2010's. I'd be lying if I said it didn't bother me to see Shady records completely miss this aspect of Westside Gun & Conways fanbase during their tenure under the label. My collection definitely would benefit from having a God Don't Make Mistakes CD and vinyl. Especially with the plethora of great songs on this album.

While Piano Love & John Woo Flick scratched that itch of slow ignorant boom bap that Griselda has crafted to a science by now, the real gem from this album cycle was the third single. Stressed is perhaps Conways most personal and tortured song yet. Similar to tracks like Forever Droppin Tears or his now famous verse on The Cow, there are few artists in the underground that can be as cold blooded as Conway then immediately after, unpack all their trauma and tragedy in such a tasteful and relatable way. Daringer and Beat Butcha provide the musical backdrop of piano keys and cymbal work paired with those excellent swaying drums that we've come to love from the Daringer catalog. Across three fantastic verses Conway laments about escaping poverty and still being surrounded by people who need his financial support. The chorus is excellent but it's in the second and third verses where this track just guts me. Conway delves into the suicide of his cousin and the death of his second born son. The third verse goes into his childhood trauma and liver damage that he needed surgery to repair at only ten months old. Then he cries out for help discussing his struggle with alcoholism and how even after a decade since his near fatal shooting how he still breaks down once in a while at the sight of his own face. Even resilience and survival has such a real mental cost and to see Conway stand out in a genre where such transparency is so rare. I gotta applaud that.

We're going back to Canada for the last song on my list. While Snak The Rippers last record from 2018 impressed me the way it balanced outside features with personal cuts, his latest from this past spring cuts back of features for the most part. Each Snak album has jumped past the previous one in a significant way. 2022's Let It Rip is no exception to this trajectory. The jump in scope comes from the instrumentals end this time as Snak incorporates more guitar balladry (electric and acoustic guitars) as well as much more singing than any previous albums. Matter of facts it's incredible to hear just how well Snaks vocals fit over these great drum breakdowns and soaring electric guitars. 

Despite all the praise I have for the instrumental pallete of the album and how grand it can be, the most impactful song to me was much more stripped back. Little One is gonna close out our list here. The song is an acoustic duet between Snak & Jaclyn Gee recounting their pregnancy journey with their second child. On a songwriting front it delves into horrific doctors visits miscarriage scares. To be a parent is of course to constantly worry and fuss over your duty to protect your children. Not only was it brave for the two of them to put this into song but that bleak war with natures indifference can plague so many expecting parents. To say goodbye before you even say hello is a cruel reality for lots of couples. Comparing that to the last song they wrote about their firstborn and how breezy and exciting that was, you just never know untill you're finally bringing your Little One home. There's great chord progression and vocal chemistry between Snak & Jaclyn and a powerful message.

So that's the jist y'all. I've been absent for a while busy eith life so this list serves as me playing a bit of catch up. I'll crank out a list of my top ten albums from 2023 and do little blurbs about specififc projects too. Forgot how much I liked writing and engaging in rap discussions. Until next time. Peace

Collector Reviews: La Bella Medusa by Ill Bill

After five years of group efforts and promising EPs, Ill Bill has returned for his fifth studio album, La Bella Medusa.

I've been an Ill Bill fan since high school when the first Heavy Metal Kings album dropped. Since then I've tuned in to the majority of Bill's work throughout the 2010's. I started catching up on the first two La Coka Nostra albums and grabbed their third record off the shelf back in 2016. I eventually saw La Coka twice in concert while they toured through Edmonton. I definitely would consider myself an avid fan of his so I was absolutely looking forward to anything on the horizon as far as his next full length.

Aside from his last album about five years ago, Septagram, Bill hasn't had too many substantial solo offerings recently. I think it's a toss up between To Thine Own Self Be True from La Coka in 2016 and the Heavy Metal Kings sophomore record Black God White Devil for what my favourite Ill Bill project of the 2010's would be. 2019 was a decent year for Bill as he released EPs with Stu Bangas and Sunday over the summer of that year, Cannibal Hulk and Pulp Phixion, respectively.

La Bella Medusa boasts an impressive feature list from members of La Coka and Non Phixion to his HMK cohort Vinnie Paz, as well as lots of other hitters. The record was announced in July of 2020 and released on October 30th of that same year.

The record fades in quick with "What's My Drug?" Stu Bangas comes in lacing up twanging piano keys and chunky drums to lure us in as Bill paints pictures of disorder and Covid lockdowns. Dense and paranoid syllable layers carry throughout the song. Solid lyrical stand outs include "Up the ante, triple down, get your pistols out/Trump faced Baphomet rockin' Hitler's crown." or in the second verse where he's referencing the hip-hop police and the circumstances of when rappers pass on unexpectedly. It's not an explosive opening track but it does set up the albums themes and familiarizes us with Bill's typical lyrical fodder. Though words like these are more chilling now than ever. DV does a pretty solid chorus here too. In the advertising for the record this ended up being the second single and the first single came near the tail end of the album. In hindsight I actually liked the idea of having the whole center of the album remain a mystery until release.

"Be Afraid!" is an easy favourite for me. Aligning perfectly with the albums Halloween release date, Italian producer Furio weaves a seriously spooky mixture of synth chops and guitar licks atop some satisfying one-two punch drums. This whole record just sounds like a Halloween ride. I love the imagery Bill paints on here right on the opening bars, "Be Afraid its your best option/Your brain on the walls, your eyes on the desk watching." I love how the songs quiets down before the next guest comes in too. Conway The Machine describes putting ten thousand dollars on your head while hopping out of his sports cars. The syllable work on his verse is pretty tight too. Pharaoh Monch is the perfect finishing move for a song like this too. The vocabulary and imagery that most songs like this come from can be traced to an architect like Monch. I love his line about acquiring vibranium to fight the Aryans with. This is just a suspenseful and violent cut where everybody understood the assignment. Honestly one of my favourite slaps of 2020 just in general I can never just play this one once.

Track three brings Tech N9ne back into Bill's world for the first time since The Hour Of Reprisal and the results are spectacular. "Illest Killers" sees Ill Bill and Scott Stallone coming up with the beat which is cool because Bill hasn't been cooking too much on the production end in awhile. I love how the pace of the beat comes at no cost to the clap of the snares and the metal riffs and grand horn sections buff out the chorus to be stadium sized. Tech N9ne has a pretty solid verse full of the eccentric syllable switch ups and his trademark adlibs. Seeing Bill be this proficient with the double time on his verse was crazy too and the way they both tie their verses together make this collab that much more cohesive too. This album is three for three so far.

Our title track I think does a pretty good job of taking the myth of Medusa and relating it to something tangible in the real world. Bill relates the temptation and danger of the Gorgon into a metaphor for addiction and lust across a very cinematic soundscape from Stu Bangas. The resonating piano keys and tortured vocal performance from Rite Hook across the chorus just go so far to enhance the tragedy and lingering danger these plagues have. Even when Covid is over we'll see dark forces like addiction and death linger over us all and Bill's storytelling pulls through so much on this song. The second verse really goes in and unpacks his grief he still feels for losing his uncle but also how prepared he is to protect his children against these forces of nature and pestilence mounting all over the world.

"Dinner Plate" marks I think the first weaker point on the record. It's not for lack of wordplay or chemistry, however, as the track brings on Lord Goat (formerly Goretex), Recognize Ali and Jay Royale. Everybody here has stand out moments lyrically with Goat referencing mob history and Satanism while Bill's verse has him bragging that his silencers are bigger than your guns and he's mobilizing an army to coordinate chaos. Recognize has probably my favourite line on the song where he raps "I'll wipe ya whole city like a genocider/I walk the chambers of Hell and sell the Devil fire." And Royale brings up the tail end of the song with some tight syllable work and the imagery of driving off rocking jewelry the size of a dinner plate. Everybody brought it my main issue with this track is the beat and how minimal the chorus is. I don't really care for whatever passes for chord progression on this song as the same woozy noise keeps repeating over and over again. For this long of a song I wish there had been some variety in either the drum pattern or the music itself but its the same tedious loop. Even the chorus feels like Bill's voice needs to be mixed super high just to cut through the noise. The beat could've done a lot more but also a lot less.

"Chrissy Snow" shows Ill Bill and Kool G Rap dicing up syllable schemes over this really downtrodden Stu Bangas beat. The drums keep a brisk pace as this really woozy guitar piece plays along with some dreamy piano samples. I love the themes and one liners across this whole track. Bill describes the street name Chrissy Snow as the drug he and G Rap are moving. I dig the details of Bill telling the listener of drug packing operation and the finishing line of "My jewelry worth more than your entire life I buy it twice/My drip like the eyes of a crying Christ." G Rap brings even more dense syllable work describing the layout of what it takes to rise through the ranks of the drug trade and the decadence you achieve in the echelons on that life. This is the type of song G Rap could've written thirty years ago. Hearing him not miss at all after all these years and having Bill keep up is awesome. We got lots of wordplay but also the beat isn't too busy that we can't make it out. Solid track.

The album is still pretty strong past the halfway point too as Slaine and Little Vic assist for "Call The Coroner." The instrumental is again pretty gloomy with eerie strings and tones linking with chunky drums and heavy cymbals work. It's dark but the drum loop has some bounce to it too. Bills vocabulary is pretty exciting in lines like "A hundred plagues God conducts like an orchestra/A hundred AKs in the trunk of the Porsche truck" Bill's verse continues to paint pictures of massacres and plagues whereas Slaine delves into a scenario of premeditated murder. I like the staccato style that Slaine uses to jump between syllable scenes while still staying focused on the story. Little Vic makes his presence known with some serious standout punchlines like "Phones loaded with selfies the feds listen on it/So I bury electronics like the clip was Amish." Each rapper just stays in a medium paced pocket with cool rhyme patterns and focused stories. I like the second act of this album taking more of a mellow approach sonically

"Only Built For Gucci Drip" is pretty okay. The song continues the double guest, woozy instrumental themes of the rest of the albums middle portion. MoSS comes though with a decent enough beat I would say. I dig the drum breaks but given this song has no chorus there isn't a whole lot of variation in the rhythms here. Goretex does a decent job here though his second guest verse later in the record is better to me. Crimeapple to me really takes the song over. In a good way though as most of the standout lines and flows come from Crime here. I feel like Ill Bill has had a lot of verses of the same quality across this record thus far. Not a bad song but also not really a draw for me most playthroughs. There could've been more linking each guy here in terms of themes or song structure. Also the last couple songs after this are a lot more explosive so sometimes I'm skipping this one.

One the most ignorant slaps of the album is "Bora Bora Aura". Nems, hot off him and Bill's collab album, starts the song off hyping Bills entry into the first verse. I'm digging how low and rumbling the base is with these slow lumbering drums. The jaunty keys dangling in the background help make this beat sound serious and menacing too. Bill's verse juggles mafioso references, apocalyptic imagery of cyborgs and prison stabbings. Nems really goes off with hilarious one liners like "I had that bitch swallowing sacks/And I ain't even follow her back." I also dig his line about his chain costing two birds and likening that to falconry. Just lots mean mug stick up rap on this one. The Vinnie Paz verse is kinda just ok. Considering him and Bill have lots of great albums and songs under their belts its not a huge disappointment though.

The first single of the record was actually a much anticipated reunion of Non Phixion. The group reconnected over the summer of 2020 and came together for a timely update on a lot of the themes of their debut record. Prophetic lines about police brutality and revolution, wars in the streets and misinformation pepper each verse from Bill, Goretex and Sabac Red. Even if the hook is a little messy with differently pitched vocals fighting for space in the mix, each line from the verses really pulls through. I'm glad to see the group can come through with great topical focus after all these years and still be in touch with current times. DJ Skizz really helps create a cinematic back drop for the song with dramatic keys and string sections.

"Superb Clientele" is a decent finisher. Bills lyrical fodder of chaos and overturning cop cars with rocket launchers meets steady flows and syllable schemes. It's not super autobiographical but it does a good job of tying up the albums themes of apocalypses, riots and government corruption with a side dish of braggadocio. The chorus is one of the strongest on the album here too. Nems returns to fade out the track and list Bills accolades and double down on the credentials.

La Bella Medusa boasts some serious highlights between Bill having tremendous chemistry with most of these features and the production is pretty strong for the most part as well. It lulls slightly in the middle when the production becomes more subtle and the topical focus wanes but it also has a pretty solid climax with the Non Phixion track. Also for an album with as many features as this one I'm glad it's not padded out into oblivion like a lot of streaming era albums are.

Pros: The production is consistently fire as it ranges from theatric and haunting to cinematic and explosive. Each feature contributes well to the records themes of darkness, chaos and violence. I am consistently impressed with Bills consistent ability to line up next to any feature and still standout. The song structure ranges from posse cuts to well rounded thematic storytelling. Since its been a number of years since we've had a robust Bill album, I'm pretty content with a lot of what's on here.

Cons: While some features really amount to fun and exciting songs there are some entries that just get outshined by other guests on the song with them. I would also like to note that despite this being a studio album from Bill we don't really get anything autobiographical or personal from Bill. It's not quite competing with some of the essential solo albums from earlier in his catalog because of this reason. Lots of these songs earn their spot from the name recognition of the features and not because they really tie into the beginning and ending songs on the record.

Collector Reviews: Force Of Habit by Merkules & Evil Ebenezer

On their collaborative EP, Force Of Habit, Merkules and Evil Ebenezer are both celebrating and challenging each other.

Though Merkules and Evil have always shared similar fan bases and have spent years making music together, the idea of a collaborative project started rather spontaneously. News on the upcoming project was drawn out by both MCs throughout spring of 2020 on their social media pages and was teased with two singles. The EP officially hitting stores in April of that year and two music videos were also made.

Merkules and Evil Ebenezer have always been solid artists for me. I've followed more than a few albums cycles from each of them have seen countless concerts from them in the west of Canada. I also noticed they almost exclusively with C-Lance and Aaron Hiltz on most of the project. Some of Merkules biggest singles have been on their production and the majority of Evils music as of late has been as well. So going into this, I expected nothing but three trusted brands with charting power coming together for something that could at the very least, be good.

Force of Habit kicks off with the opening track "On Us". I love the keys that C-Lance brings in as they're bright and tropical. The drum line is decent enough with rumbling kick drums and sharp snares. Merkules opens the track with some relaxing braggadocio as he travels from the studio to extravagant vacation spots. I love the way Evil comes in in the chorus even if his verse has questionable lines like "Bout to pull up at the bank bustin' shots at the teller." What are we shooting bank tellers for? Let the young lady make her way in the world. I did go on to enjoy the rest of his verse where Evil alludes to his mental state and the pressures of psychiatrists. For an opener its cool but, not my favourite.

The most bombastic anthem of this record is definitely "Armed & Dangerous". C-Lance assembles this gigantic armada of synth leads and swells while Aaron Hiltz smashes these wild guitar riffs on the chorus. Merkules and Evil both lend their most intimidating lines as possible with solid quotables. Merkules is pulling up to your house with the cannon and is ready to take your Mom and brother out if it gets to you. Evil to me has the better similes though like "Kush by the pound and it reek like B.O., Strap by my waist and it sing like Ne-Yo." The drum pattern isn't really as hard as it could've been but its quick and works for the guys to build flows off of.

"California" is possibly my favourite on the record. This is where a lot of the forlorn themes of Merkules and Evils previous works starts to come together in an exciting way. Merkules laments the isolation that comes with moving away from many of his contemporaries as his career grows as well as the disconnect he feels with his fans. He also has a real grim nod towards the machete attack he endured in his youth and the PTSD symptoms that come with it. Evil wrestles with suicidal thoughts and desertion as he holds his loved ones one final time. The real selling point of this song is just how dynamic each of their verses are. Merkules is pushing his vocal range to higher notes and leads us into the chorus wonderfully and Evil is just floating on this beat as well. I love the way C-Lance set these hi hats up as they twirl around the guitar leads from Aaron Hiltz. Excellent song with some of the best vocal performances on the record.

The lead singe definitely had the potential to be polarizing. I found "With You" to be a really sweet moment, however. Both MCs have plenty of ballads written around romance but, this one is different for a number of reasons. First off, Merkules is singing as raw as I've heard him in a minute as theres no layering or touch ups to his voice at all. There's nowhere else to focus but on his lyrics because hes right there in the center of the mix. Secondly, Evil enters the song much differently as he serenades his way through the second verse. The instrumental starts with these really plucky guitar licks before this super intricate and upbeat drum pattern picks the pace up. Stand outside lines from Merkules such as likening his love to Junior High and Evil recalling introducing his wife to his Mom are welcomed moments of sincerity as well. Tie that all up with the final chorus and this one is a big highlight.

Though there's connective tissue from the previous track, Evil takes his solo song in a more complex direction. C-Lance and Aaron Hiltz come together for a score that's really forlorn but can still feel triumphant and resilient. As the track saunters in with Evil harmonizing amongst the lead guitars, I'm digging the placements of the producer tag before the drums come in. C-Lance laces up these rapid fire snares and resounding claps which Evil is just pouring his heart over. His lyrics shift from having to ditch addictive and violent tendencies all for the stability of his family, to pulling himself out of that depression with all his strength in the second verse. Matter of fact, this second verse is a contender for best verse on the record. Really touching moment and everything you'd want out of a track with this tone.

"Back In My Bag" is likely my second favourite. Stuey Kubrick produces this one with massive sub bass and droning synths. The drums are decent enough for the flavours of drill and trap that this song is emulating. On a beat like this is really the synth lead and bass that we're here for and they both are as obnoxious as they need to be. I love the rhymes scheme in Merks verse where he raps "I don't got time for the chit chat, click clack bang! Feel the weight from the kick back/Never been one for the kiss ass, get mad, go and get a map where you live at" Also the his shit talking about just how many people you gotta get through before you get to him adds a mafioso tone to the track as well. Evil replies in kind with further grittiness like "Words to the stick I ain't working legit, got the burner to turn up and turn out your clique/I'm burning these vermins the furnace is lit I'm touring Alberta to Europe and shit" Syllable schemes are crazy on this one. A banger in every sense.

The final act starts to set in with "Eyelidz" where Merkules rocks his own solo track. C_Lance returns to the boards with peppy synth notes and string sections mixed with sharp tambourines. Its a really triumphant moment where Merkules compares the humble beginnings of dive bars and chasing his dream to losing his old friends and feeling disenchantment towards his friends he met in his come up. Though I do love the flow that Merkules tackles each song with, there is still a few lines that feel below Merks pen. I found him likening somebodies mortgage to the price of his jewelry, to be pretty much the same as him mentioning the implied price of his jeans in the second verse. I do love the pace and complexity of his rhyme schemes and slant rhymes, however. Somehow he manages to make filet mignon rhyme and that's not something you hear everyday. This song isn't bad but it's not as strong as the tracks it's sandwiched between either.

"Fake Love". C-Lance is really in his bag on this closer track with subdued piano lines and a knocking drum line. The themes of this record really tie together on Merkules lines like "Another day, another thing to overthink/Now run away pour another drink and over drink." While Merkules portrays the actual moment of descending into depression Evil shows the resolve and triumph of reflecting on that moment from a better place in his finishing bars "So I'm locking the door on all you leeches and fakes/All you greasy blood suckers, weasels and snakes." The chorus is incredible too with Merkules echoing the lines of Evil as they both are driving people away for different reasons. Also I'd be remiss if I didn't praise saxophone player Johnny McCormack on his playing and the great solo we get from him at the end of the track. He plays out the whole album but also helps "Fake Love" to feel desolate and strong at the same time. The song succeeds because of Merk and Evils personal experiences and compelling lyrics but also because it progresses so tastefully as well.

Pros: Merkules and Evil do get together for some truly excellent music here. I'm also appreciative of C-Lance trying his hand at more contemporary production as he plays with trap percussion and hi hats quite a bit here. Aaron Hiltz and Johnny McCormack add impressive musicianship as well on the songs that feature them. This EP is at its their best when we get to see Merkules and Evil inching past their comfort zone for more melody as well as vulnerability. I think Evil was the perfect partner to get Merkules to explore his vocal range as well as they both have standout vocal performances all over the EP. If Merkules is singing this confidently and this free of editing on his upcoming solo record, then I'm sold already. 

Cons: I can see it being a turn off for three out of eight songs to be relationship cuts but, to me the weaker points on the record actually end up being the bangers. Merkules and Evil do their best at threatening and intimidating the listener but its not delivered with the same conviction or taste as the more personal moments. I also think even though I'm digging C-Lance trying more hi hats and trap percussion by the time "Fake Love" shows up in the tracklisting, a fat snare like that was too little too late. There's also a few verses scattered here that I could easily forget about.

I think Force Of Habit is good enough. The production is brightly coloured while Merkules and Evil Ebenezer really sharpen each other. I still believe theres more territory to be explored in terms of how Merk and Evil function as a duo. For a project that the two of them can wrote and recorded in a day, its pretty good. All the songs come in the right order, even if we still have the odd verse of forgettable bragging. I think C-Lance, Hiltz, Kubrick and McCormack are providing instrumentation that really elevates the record on more than a few songs here too. All that being said, if Merkules and Evil Ebenezer want to fine tune their chemistry beyond this little experiment and see what they're capable of on a collaborative LP, I think the ingredients for that to be successful are here. They could really flesh themselves out as partners in rhyme if they tackle a dozen or so songs and really spend some time crafting new things. Doubling down on what already makes them both great is still enough to make this one appetizing though.

Collector Reviews: Electric Lemonade by Space Kamp

Space Kamp continues to create without boundaries on their sophomore LP, Electric Lemonade.

Three years after the release of the groups debut album, Terpene Station and I had been really looking forward to the follow up project. I felt their debut was something of a sleeper hit as the roster made up of Adlib, Oskee and Split all had flows, vivid narratives and punchlines. All their chemistry was also backed by psychedelic and forward thinking production spear headed by Rob The Viking. They had some good song concepts and came through with a really fun album. The Kamp continued through the decade with multiple tours as well as a seven inch single. Split, however, left the group early on in the production of the sophomore record.

Recording for Electric Lemonade began at Dizzibot Studios in Allentown, Pennsylvania throughout the latter half of 2019. The group also had additional recording sessions at Hyde Street Studios in San Francisco and completed production at the Chamber Studios in Nanaimo, British Columbia. Similar to their first album, production concluded under Rob The Viking as he again provided additional instrumentation, mixing as well as mastering. This new record features guest production from DJ Hoppa and Tabinstereo as well as guest vocals from Tab, Demrick, Jessica Lamb and Split. The record was officially completed in spring of 2020 and released on June 25th.

The record kicks off pretty differently then their last album did with "New Strains". While Terpene Station made a point of presenting three capable and energetic emcees right away, Electric Lemonade fades in with more grace. The twittering synth cords had me really intrigued but I just didn't see this drum break coming. Adoo and Skee have such a filter on their vocals its like a broadcast on a CB echoing through a subway tunnel. Lyrics on this song range from the philosophical to the spiritual as Adoo and Skee focus on setting the mood rather than barring out right away. While the drums are relatively slow the cymbal work helps give it some bounce. The synth music stays pretty mellow up until the the bridge in the center of the track when Rob gives us a truly stunning solo on the synthesizer. I should mention that right off the bat, we're exposed to Rob The Viking handling more of the percussion as well than he did on Terpene Station, as this song and most of Electric Lemonade have noticeable Viking drums (that's never a bad thing). Roll down the windows to this one or just stretch out on the couch.

Keys and synths continue to be the primary instrument on "A.D.I.D.A.S.". The vocal manipulation tones down a little bit here in favor of more punchlines. Adoo opens the song speaking frankly from orbit before our beat comes in. I like seeing the same instruments carry through from the synthesizers to the chunky drums and cymbals. It's exciting to hear Oskee bring that growling delivery that I dug on "Neon Soul" to his verse here. There's standout lines from both guys here too like when Adoo says "My doob's laced, but my shoes not." The guys are definitely echoing the cypher-like energy of the first Kamp LP and DJ TMB has some really mean scratches of Run DMC to help reinforce the funk and add another layer to the acronym as well.  This isn't my favourite song on here but, Rob brought a good bounce and these verses are great refreshers for why Space Kamp is such a unique group.

The album starts to take on a reggae flavour with "Life's A Beach". Now this is one of my favourites on the record. Peppy synth notes bounce along with heavy snares. Rob still adds so much nuance to the progression of this song with different synths buzzing and zipping through the mix. Now given that the Kamp has changed from a trio to a duo we're seeing a little more from both Adlib and Oskee and this track demonstrates that a lot. Adlib is sounding more relaxed and confident than ever as he combines his slower flow with more enthusiastic tone. Oskee delivers a fantastic hook as well as a bridge, but I totally didn't expect him to drop an entire verse in Spanish. Seeing as how rap groups like Cypress and Psycho Realm are standing the test of time and Latin pop is a huge force in music right now, this one really stands to broaden the appeal of the group.

The second single off the record, "Girl Like You" pushes the reggae influence even further. While "Life's A Beach" still carried over a lot of synth work and programmed cymbals, this track here incorporates electric guitars, keyboards and the the cymbals don't feel as mechanical. Adlib is next to stand out as a singer on this totally panoramic hook. We have Adlib delving into his relationship in lines like "And she knows how to please me/To tolerate me can't be easy." Oskee adds more reference towards him falling in love with lines such as, "She tells me all the time/I'm not hard to find pick through the sky." The instrumentation here is so colourful and moving as well. Play this twice at minimum.

The cleverly titled "Homegrown" kicks off with these slamming drums before Adlibs bridge and Robs keys guide us into one of my favourite synth swells of the album. This track is just an affirmation to how Adoo and Oskee have handled their careers thus far. From Adoo saying "Got caught in traffic made our own road/Forever Homegrown, without strong roots, can't nothing grow." The roots referring to this show by show, fan by fan, accumulation that I've witnessed at a Rebel Hippies show personally. My favourite verse from Oskee on this whole record is here too as he's laying down amazing lyrics like "Took a little faith, put that in a pipe/Looked at Adoo told him we gon' be alright." It's a celebration of the bands progression, the joys of touring and it fucking slaps too.

Getting into side B, we have "Summer Of Love". I can see this one being perfect for getting the crowd energy back up after a slower song in the set list. A lot of that back and forth energy from Terpene Station can be felt in this chorus as Adlib and Oskee toss different crowd chants to each other. The bridge sees Jessica Lamb just soaring over this ensemble of kicks drums as the dense wave of synth work continues to rise. Both MCs have standout lines like Adlib in the front leg of the track saying, "Astronauts and dancing bears, smells the freedom in the air/Flowers in her hair, sour in the cone home on her eyes can't leave her alone." And Oskee finishes the track with "Acid hits, daffodils/This how summer suppose to feel." The drum playing is some of my favourite on the album especially leading up to and across the chorus. It reminds me a lot of what was on that Kids See Ghosts album by just being an expansive odyssey of psychedelic proportions.

Track seven is "Chicken & Waffles". Rob crafted one of my favourite beats here. It starts with somber piano keys that sit high and then we get lower keys added. The drum loop has lots open space in it as well. It's definitely one of the songs on this record with the least pieces to it. The result is a really slow and nocturnal bounce for the duo. Both of them have some decent punchlines in here too. I like Adlib saying "In the deck, ain't no eject/Kick a hole in your speaker then we jet." I'm digging his mouth like a disco ball line that's always a cool simile. They take turns rapping the hook here after each of their verses and Oskee drives the cosmic theme of this beat home with lines like "Day trippin' colour coordination vivid/Every step I take open dimensions".  I'm leaving this song feeling like I'm either hitting Dennys at four in the morning on some road trip or getting up from a midnight bong rip to raid the fridge. If I could show you a munchies anthem from outer space, this would be it.

Probably the hardest and most visceral cut on the record is track eight, "In My Bag" featuring Demrick and DJ Hoppa. Hoppa laces up this super mean synth line over some real savage trap percussion. The hi-hats aren't overwhelming and the bass still hits deep. Oskee floats in on this song while keeping his voice into that growling register that I really like. Adoo is still having all kinds of fun with his voice too. There's lyrics that are more clever and deeper from these two on the rest of the album but there's still something special about them tackling a beat as relentless as this. Mind you, having heard both Stoney Point albums that Demrick and DJ Hoppa has done together this might be one of the most visceral things they've been attached to as well. This is also the only track at this pace and with this kind of production  so I find myself coming back for the jolt of energy often.

The lead single of the record, "500 Miles" really surprised me. With how complex and technical production on the rest of the album is, we shed almost all the synth and bass lines for a purely acoustic experience. Similar to how a track like "A.D.I.D.A.S." can take us to a cypher on the street, this one here transports us to a campfire surround by friends. Tab returns from songs like "Tim Leary" to strum guitar as well as lend vocals. As the album winds down, the philosophy and resolve of Space Kamp is more and more highlighted and all three vocalists point that out in their own way. Despite the hook from Tab that you can't avoid humming along to, I think the real crown jewel of track comes from Adoo's verse where he raps "I'm a father, friend, son, stoner/I'm a joker, rock 'n' roller, loner, never had an owner." That, or Oskee in the lines, "Rockstar, switch bars for guitars/Say they don't feel it wait 'til it take off." The gentle crackle of a fire pit helps the song chill us out that much more. These guys continue to show they're comfortable without comfort zones.

The final send off to the LP comes with the title track. Now this shit is crazy. Space Kamps classic rock influence really shines here on every level from the drum set, hypnotic guitar leads and the encompassing echo of all the vocals. Adoo begins with his lyrics reverberating across the whole soundscape and deliver my favourite chorus of his on here too. The song continues to evolve across over seven minutes with guitar solos and quotables from each of them. My favourite line would be Oskee bragging how, no matter what, he has his feet kicked up on the lemonade stand. Split D returns to lend his hand to the all out performance and ends with the pertinent lyric of either creating paradise or wreaking havoc. There's nothing halfway about they're vocal performance on this song or the musical score. Rob The Viking breaks into a tremendous drum line that sweeps us up into the final moment of the album. Guitars are screaming and drums are slamming in this incredible arena sized display and it's a perfect note to end on. I love hearing the original drum pattern reemerge one last time in the final seconds to excitedly hint at the bands next journey. I'm glad they tackled a song like this again to push their sound just that much further before the end.

Pros: Adlib and Oskee are comfortable and confident across this song despite just about everything on here being new or unexplored territory. It feels like the Rebel Hippies slogan of breaking rules has finally linked with their approach to making music. Nine years after Daggermouth, Rob The Viking has found a completely different way to make an opus. The sequencing of each song is perfect to as we go from a sparkly, synth lead first act, to reggae passages, to triumphant anthems. The latter half is less predictable with each song capturing its own note. I should also mention that the song length is for the most part pretty generous as Space Kamp takes time to build introductions and employ all kinds of instrumental passages.

Cons: Though every song on this record is necessary to me, I do feel like an extra idea or exploration could've padded out the record a little bit more. The dynamic change from trio to duo is definitely noticeable in some spots as well since the method of three MCs all shouting lines back and forth was what made their original debut so spontaneous and fun.

Even in the current musical zeitgeist of synth-led psychedelic rap, Space Kamp is the only group I've heard effectively bridge the gap between the new wave and the original directional shift of classic rock from 60's and 70's. Not only can we gleam the more obvious influences of Cypress Hill or a Run DMC but listen close and you'll hear Bob Marley,  Jimi Hendrix and so much more. The result is group that can appeal to a Dead Head the same way a underground head could get into it. Electric Lemonade isn't just a tremendous sophomore LP, but an adventurous homage into all corners of hippie history and culture. While very much still grounded in hip-hop, Space Kamp still lends space to wonderful ventures like the blissful reggae jams on "Girl Like You" or the campfire inspired "500 Miles" and the Woodstock sized climax of the title track. Its shorter in length but seems to cover more ground than Terpene Station with Adoo and Skee subverting expectations on every dial turn while Rob The Viking is pushing his own limits with lush, multi tiered scores full of surprise and nuance. This really IS how summer is supposed to feel.

Collector Reviews: Medallo by Crimeapple & DJ Muggs

Building on the momentum of Crimapples meteoric rise and the continued sharpness of DJ Muggs throughout this past decade, Medallo is something special for both of their catalogs.

New Jersey native Crimeapple first hit my radar about around the tail end of the decade through a collaborative record on the Vinnie Paz album, The Pain Collector. I again saw him on the Westside Gunn album Supreme Blientele, though I still was out of touch when it came to his solo catalog.

I was however, pretty well versed in what Muggs had been up to as I was fresh off of hearing the recent Cypress Hill album Elephants On Acid, as well as his KAOS project with Roc Marciano. Some of the biggest bangers of Vinnie Paz solo albums have also been done over Muggs beats so I knew the potential when it came to Medallo. The record is born out of an odyssey that Crime and Muggs took to the city of Medellin, Columbia and features bilingual lyrics across each song.

The intro to the record has its own spot on the tracklisting. I quite like the sampling here as Muggs mixes brass sections with some cool drum roll chops. The vocals are all in Spanish so I'm only really appreciating the melody. It's short but helps with establishing the setting. It's necessary before you get into the songs I'd say.

Medallo is really a sound to behold off the first song. "En Vivo Desde Manrique" is this stadium sized free verse track with more than a few quotable and quick flows. This sample is so grand with these amazing stretched out horns that only break for a crescendo of strings. There's little drum work on this track beside these rumbling bass hits that enter during the brass parts. Crimes lyrics paint a story of triumph and confidence as he warns promoters of his pricing, brushes off his competitors and throws in some really flashy bilingual moments. Also that line where he rhymes Quetzalcoatl is fuckin nuts.

Muggs drums are in full form on the next track "Tiburones". This beat really takes it's time to build as the synths gradually fade up to our drum drop. This track probably has one of the two hardest snares on the album. Crimeapple continues recounting his rise to prominence with lines like "Nobody tryna sign me fine, I sign myself/The grind remind me of going to knock down your town with nicks and dimes." Crime right away or demonstrating his dexterity when it's time to switch from syllable scheme to the next. This hook is just as hard and commanding as everything else on the song as well.

"Camisas" has one of the more laid back scores on the record. Muggs arranges a wonderful medley of piano chops atop chunky drums. Crime spits about shopping, fancy restaurants and rolling good weed. It's a solid reflection of how his lifestyle has changed. I wish I was fluent in Spanish as this track has easily the most bilingual moments on the record. This a great song to gets some chores done to or roll that first blunt of the day to.

There's a kind of sensual cut with "Prescriptions". Crime isn't necessarily womanizing on this track its more him having relationships on his own terms. He can't slow his grind for any girlfriend which I dig. The sample that sing "Take away your love" really fits and its blended with a wicked baseline and a guitar riff where the snare should be. It's not a banger but its funky and Crimes confidence makes the concept work.

Continuing on the victorious tone of "Camisas" is the sixth track, "Villa Hermosa". There's a little less ego on this track as Crime takes stock of his blessings as well as inspires listeners through lyrics like "What if God made me in his image there couldn't be a limit/Go for yours, never waste a second being timid." The instrumental gets to breathe a lot between the verse and chorus too which is good. This is one of the most layered beats on the record with strings and woodwind instruments joined together with splashes of keys and guitars. A beautiful piece of music.

"Crazy Eddie's" is a favourite of mine too. Muggs adds so much suspense to this song from the buzzing strings whirring in the background and these pounding drums. Some of my favourite bars on the album are on this song like "No Robert Kelly shit, my Kelly Rowland keep the jelly thick/Steady bouncing on my meatballs 'til I got a spaghetti dick". We have a little bit of Spanish lyrics but most of his bars still end on English words. Also I like the line of "If rap don't work, I'm in that spot and you can call that a writers block." This song is dope dealing mixed with decadence. Stupid hard.

My absolute favourite song on here is still the first single "Just Because". Muggs weave this rich tapestry of string and brass sections over another set of muted drums. Crimeapples vocabulary and command of flow comes out on his second verse in lines like "Pots and pans, I'm switchin around brain in the pyrex when the pie is correct/To a rapper ego I'm a threat, you'll probably die from neglect oh bet you upset." The beat works as a slow canvas for Crimeapple to play with all kinds of rhythms but the real selling feature is just the beauty of this sample.

The runner up for my favourite song has to be "Acetone Wash". Crimeapple and Conway sink their teeth into a similarly drum-less sample. Though there is noticeable rhythm in regards to the baseline the instrumentation is still full of colour. The crackle of vinyl ties electric guitars and vocal samples into one seamless score. Conway is not stranger to Muggs production and he opens the track recalling his rise from upstate New York to stardom in lines like "They tried to lock me up but, they ain't have my mind shackled/Now right in front of City Hall they gon' put my statue." This is just the classic slow scary flow that Conways known for and his verse flows so seamlessly across this production. Crimeapple brings one of his more medium paced flows but its fine because the punchlines still hit really well especially line of "I'm just my pops if he could hone his dreams". The instrumental fades back at just the right time to highlight lines from both them as well. Muggs is in his bag for sure.

The last act of the album starts to stagger a bit with this next track "22 Blue Twos" featuring Primo Profit. This beat from Muggs is pretty simple but effective as Crime and Profit both have as much space as they need to spit. The negative to me is just how different the verses are in quality. Primo has such minimal wordplay in his verse and I'm still not fond of his rap voice as I hear too much force behind most of his consonant sounds. Crimeapple kind of picks up the song in his verse but there is also better verses from him in the rest of the record as well. Its the shortest song on here and it almost stops but doesn't end. If that makes sense. There could've been more chord progression in this beat I think.

"No More 2 For 5" has one of my favourite beats on Medallo. Muggs synth work combines with little bursts of keyboard for a real science fiction sound. Aesthetically, this music sounds like a derelict space station especially with the distortion effect on Crimeapples vocals. I like the references to Soul Assassins in the line, "Sippin' champagne at the Soul Assassin cotillion building/Someone oughta be filming I gave mother fuckas a cheeseburger and stuck a pill in." This hook is serviceable but given how fast paced the syllable work is, something repetitive and simple actually works.

The most relaxing joint on the final act of Medallo is "Aguas Profundas". One of Muggs most stripped back productions on the record as this beat ticks along with gentle cymbals and synth work. Crimeapple plays with so many different aquatic punchlines as he brags about expensive seafood dinners and weaves in so many other lines to match the dull sounds of water trickling through the song. A good break because the track right after smashes right away.

Our last real banger comes "Bloodtype". Wide snares and deep resonating kicks are help up by a buzzing string sample but that only half of how this record sounds. There's constant noises of calamity from gunshots and sirens which really adds to the lumbering of this beat. Crime gives us a nod to his friendship with Vinnie Paz in some lines, "I politic with Vincenzo, I'm Pistol Pazzy favourite." which reminds me how much more Muggs beats need to have Vinnie on them and also the circle of spitters Crimeapple has been approved by ad he's still relatively new. This whole track just sounds like a riot. Best snare on the record too.

The final song on the record "Tellin Me Lies", musically is a gentle let down. Quick snaps of electric guitars punctuate a great vocal sample. Crime is sort of deescalating the advances of a woman. He's mostly after the release of sex but too busy for a girlfriend. Decent concept I just cant figure out why this is the last track. I feel like something that wraps up or alludes to the experience of recording music in Columbia could've brought this record home in a more satisfying way.

Medallo is a great piece of art for sure. Musically, Muggs joins each song expertly and knows when to break up the sequencing with more melodic songs after harder songs and vice versa. Medellin definitely was an inspiration on the sample choices and vibe of this album. Crimeapple sporadic flow and wordplay lends very well to every score on Medallo as well. I think Crimes topical focus and storytelling could've lent itself to the album a bit more as he did visit the city all throughout his childhood and has family there. I'm leaving this record still knowing very little of Crimeapples life and struggle despite the theme of the album implying so many motifs of Colombian culture.

Pros: Crime and Muggs have a great working relationship on this album. The samples are lush, diverse and masterfully woven into drums that fit. Crimeapple expands on his staccato rhyme patterns and builds a lot of fantastic choruses as well. Just when we have a contemplative moment that drags slightly, theres a banger full of snares right around the corner. The Conway and Primo Profit are  excellent choices for each of their songs. Also the command of language Crime possesses in English and Spanish adds an entire layer of culture. The talent it takes for him to change language mid verse and sometimes even mid sentence, is immeasurable.

Cons: Focusing on one story isn't necessarily Crimes strongest suit. We have songs like "Villa Hermosa", "Prescription" and "Tellin Me Lies" that hone in on situations and reflections but for the most part a lot of Crime topical focus is pretty scattered in most songs. I also think the scope of the album began better than it ended. Minimal stuff though, as every song here has good qualities.

Collector Reviews: The Uncanny Adventures Of Watson And Holmes by Blacastan & Stu Bangas

Blacastan and Stu Bangas return to the Watson And Holmes series playing to their strengths on The Uncanny Adventures Of Watson And Holmes.

I first caught wind of Blacastan and Stu around 2014 after Army of The Pharaohs dropped In Death Reborn. Stu produced the lead single "God Particle" while Blacastan lent verses to eight of the fourteen songs across the album. The collaboration made sense on paper with the the two musicians having a very similar reach and style.

The first "Watson And Holmes" was released the following summer and I liked it plenty but, I still wasn't sure if the duo was permanent or would work together again. So in early 2017 I was intrigued and excited to hear rumblings of a second installment. The record finally hit stores on June 9th of that year.

The album opens with "A Glass Of Port [Intro]" where we hear a skit that I would guess samples either a show or cartoon relating to other Sherlock Holmes adaptations. It's a good precursor to the skits and interludes that blend the track-listing together. Most of the time I flip past it to get into the rapping parts but the added mythos goes a long way.

The music kicks in with "Lucifer's Sickle". Right off the bat we're hooked with this wailing vocal sample atop rattling drums. Stu Bangas finally unleashes guitar riffs and bass lines for the beat drop and Blacastan goes right on in with his punchlines. I love these opening of the second verse "I'm at your door, black hoodie and sickle, black hellhounds'll sick you/Sign your self over your death is official." I hope I'm hearing that right. Blac moves through his rhymes pretty briskly on here but you can still catch what he's tryna getting across.

The song "Summa Cum Laude" featuring Apathy is the third track and the lead single for the album. It's one of my favourites with eerie synths throughout. The whole song has me imagining cobblestones streets and Tommy guns. Like some mafioso drive by shit. The drums breathe really nice and the eerie leads fade and reenter, emphasizing Blacastans' lines like "Me afraid of a mic is like Spider-Man with arachnophobia/Or a dope fiend afraid to shoot the opium up." Blac kills the first two verses but, I think Apathy truly went hammer on this beat. Shouts out to Apathy for his range of references in the first couple of lines too "We've been Christ-like since the days of Zelda and Exite Bike/First Edition Nike Flights, Atari's and Lite Brights." Like OK go off. All three of these guys have such a track record together, how could it not be fire?

"Rap Killin'" fades in with these glittery keys and strings before a hook made from chops of Nas and Biggie comes in. I dig the double snare hits as well as the hi hats that swing in to pick up the pace in each of Blacs verses. Blac also has some great schemes in here to like "I'm Merlin, twirling in the sky like a whirlwind/In Germany conjuring a storm over Berlin." The first act of The Uncanny shows both Blac and Stu hitting us with as many bangers as they can and I'm all for it.

Definitely the hardest beat in this portion of the album to me is "Commando". It's almost sounds like Stu is flipping sleigh bells to match the baseline and drums. This beat had me scowling off the first bar and Blac responds with some of the most disrespectful and vulgar lines on the whole album. We got lines about turning out people wives in the verse and the hook has him snatching your kids out of daycare. Blac is coming for you on this one and theres nothing you can do.

The instrumentation gets a little more mellow on the next collaborative cut, "Blac-O-Teric". I love the synths that twist their way across the heavy kick drums. Blacastan and Esoteric take the bpm of this beat as an opportunity to really spit as many multi-syllabic rhymes as possible. Blac really kicks this off with a tongue twister line "Now that you hear me spit it, notice that its lava every time you get it/Rhyming as crimes committed, knowing that you never did it." I like Eso on here as we see him bringing trusted comic references on lines like "By the way that Stu had flipped a banger after banger/My anger I can't contain, my lane is Bruce Banner." This beat isn't as hard or obnoxious as others on the album so sometimes I'm skipping it. The syllable schemes from Blac and Eso to me are really what sell this song.

The narrative of Watson and Holmes 2 is also linked by skits and outros you can find scattered between songs. The second of those skits is "State Your Name". I'm not sure if these skits are all being pulled from the same movie or shows but it's really going a long way towards the cohesion of the project.

One of my favourite tracks on the album is "Zone Out". I love the funky bass strings and cymbals. Its definitely one of the more stripped back beat that Stu provides here and Blacastan knows exactly what to do with it. This is like the perfect track to break up some weed or cook to. One of the best hooks on the record is here and Blac is slicing shit on the verses too. I love the way he calls out to different part of the world as the beat fades too. I can see this song being just a super organic process to make. Chill but lyrical too. Stu also laces up an amazing instrumental bridge too that takes us in the song after this.

"War Crimes" is a fucking jam as well. I like the synth notes that lead into the song and Tragedy Khadafi gets right down to it with bars like, "Opiate lines inject in your mind and overdose ya/Heavenly bent, life's to real to remain sober." Blacastan spits one of my favourite choruses on the album here and I love his line of popping your top like a champagne cork. This beat from Stu is pretty open as well. The drums have lots of air so the tempo feels slower than it is despite all the minute sounds clicking away behind our main note. Shits knocking though. We also have another solid bridge to the next song.

My favourite track overall is without question "Sin City". Stu flips these wild guitar leads until the beat kicks in. Those intricate guitars leads get more drawn out after the drums drop and Blacastan matches his punchlines and flow switch-ups with the alternating snares and cymbals are layered on the drums with every other bar. Blacastan blends luxury with grime in lines like, "Summer of Sam, catchin' bodies, covering land/Catch a flight at top speed in a Euro sedan." Globe trotting and reigning terror on rappers. Letting the guitar breathe during the hook was a good call too. Spin this one back for sure.

Blac and Stu continue to make song transitions so seamless and exciting as Sin City ends in time for another skit to introduce some of the ingredients of our next beat. "Delete" features brass sections and this super wide decaying synth over one of my favourite snares on the record. The cuts from 7L continue through the outro on "Sin City" to become the hook for this song. the I love the vocabulary of Blacastans verse as he boasts, "I'm a savage magician, A time traveling wizard/A violent technician with a javelins precision". Bill has lots of cool internal rhymes for his entry here too. Every collaborative cut on here has had its own vibe so far demonstrating the versatility of both Blacastan and Stu with this one being one of the more eclectic and quirky songs.

The concept of Watson & Holmes really comes alive in "Murder Mystery II". The song has Blac investigating a murder case, gathering witnesses and reviewing evidence over these really somber synth notes and string sections from Stu. Blacastan doesn't flex his rhymes too much but he sticks to the storytelling really well. Part of me wishes the second verse had some more lines to it because this is really the only song that matches storytelling with the album title.

"Remington" is another no holds barred banger. Though I do find the synth leads a little garish and noisy but similar to "Commando" in the first act this track just sees Blac slicing shit with bars like, "Hip-hop reviews from [writers] with no clue/Give a fuck about your views get slapped out your shoes." The hook here is just stupid hard as well as Blac is likens his crew to gorillas in the jungle. This is that song that you play on your last set on the bench press. The transition to the next song is seamless yet again as Stu lets the song wind down gently with brass instruments.

Another strong song on the tail end of this record is "Catchin' Bodies". I dig the arena sized guitar chops and the keys. I like the lines where Blac names all his cohorts in AOTP just in case listeners forgot the cloth he's cut from. A lot of that pharaoh lyrical content can be found here too in like such as, "God body, equivalent to the number seven/black pope with no belief in holy books and heaven." I like the jab he takes at Flex because from the perspective of an underground/independent fan I always see these platforms not going to some rappers who really deserve that exposure. The hook here is great too.

The final instrumental bridge is "Forgot To Say" is a great piece of music too. Stu digs up this wild piano sample and knows just what drums to lay underneath the keys. I like that the vocal bit has lots of room to breathe too. Creative decisions like this to let the music shine really go a long way.

The record ends with a sort of epilogue song "Circle Of Fire". This song is just the icing on the cake. These drums from Stu are mean and metallic with blaring electric guitar sections that carry us through verses from Blacastan and Nutso. Blac leaves us a few more gems just to be safe and Nutso is going just as hard too. This beat is right up there for me with some of the earlier slaps like "Commando" or "Sin City" as some of my favourite Stu Bangas beats I've heard yet.

When it comes to the Army Of The Pharaohs collective and the albums you can find from the individual members, Blacastan and Stu Bangas have made something really essential here. Blacastan shows his versatility and his aptitude for writing choruses making so many of these songs memorable. The features old and new have some classic entries as I never felt like any of them felt washed to out of place. The instrumentals are something else too samples from Stu are lush, layered and dusty all at the same time. Stu Bangas brings drums sets that are as tough as you'd want them to be pretty much every time.

Pros: As far as the Pharaohs family goes, Blacastan really pulls ahead with these Watson and Holmes records. Stu Bangas is lending some of his best beats of the decade to this album and Blacastan creates a challenge for every feature they recruit. Each song blends seamlessly into the next with skits and samples and the record slows down just when it needs to.

Cons: Aside from the skits and Murder Mystery II, Blacastan and Stu aren't really writing too many stories that pertain to detective work or mysteries. Almost every song on here is pretty loose in concept. We get a few glimpses on the record into Blacastan as a person and his storytelling but, its rare. If I had any expectations for the third record it would be to hear Blacastan hone in on something topical more often because he's got the bars down pat already.