Schoolboy Q- Oxymoron ALBUM REVIEW

Schoolboy Q is probably in my top 5 favorite underground rappers right now. He is so unique, and he really has a crazy, gangster, wild vibe to his rapping. I love the way he spits, and he has so much energy. His 2012 album, Habits and Contradictions, was definitely one of my favorites from this year, and we have been waiting for Oxymoron for 2 years now. It's finally out, and will it live up to all the anticipation?

To start this review with the album's production, the beats on Oxymoron were extremely varied. There were all types of sounds on this album, from relaxed to gritty to just weird. The first track, Gangsta, is one of the instrumental standouts. This one comes in with a commanding, hard piano tune mixed with some hard, west coast drums. It is odd, but it is a beat that works. It really helps in grabbing the listener and getting them ready for the album. The song Studio, one of the most mellow on the album, was just such a smooth and relaxing beat. I did enjoy the relaxing beats on this album. On the other hand, songs like Hoover Street, Oxymoron, and Fuck LA totally enhanced the tough, gangsta vibe of the album, All of these were gritty, making use of loud, high energy drums. The song Blind Threats had an awesome beat composed of some unique percussion sounds and string instruments flowing in and out of the track. It is a very polished, nice instrumental. The last beat I really loved was on the Alchemist-produced Break the Bank. It is a simple instrumental, but it hits hard and there are no problems with it. The drums sound crisp and the minimal, but very effective piano keys make the track very elegant and smooth. The song Los Awesome featured some of the weirdest, most oddball production I've heard in a while. Pharrell put together a beat that is almost too loud and obnoxious to work, but he makes it sound good. It ends up being a real head banger and it has a great groove to it. There were some beats here, though, that just didn't sound as good to me. The songs Studio, Man of the Year, and Hell of a Night sounded a little rushed to me. Not that these are bad, but they really pale in comparison to others on the album. The main disappointment, though, was The Purge, which was produced by Tyler, the Creator. The beat here just sounded a little lazy. Once again, it wasn't terrible, but just did not sound like it took long to make, especially for a great producer like Tyler. Overall though, the beats here impressed me. I loved the variety and emotions that some of these instrumentals brought.

On Oxymoron, Schoolboy Q definitely changed his rapping style up a little from Habits and Contradictions. On some tracks this works, but on others it doesn't. Q is a little inconsistent here. The highs on this album, though, are very high. On Gangsta, he rides the beat perfectly and delivers some gritty lyrics, all with a crazy, enthusiastic delivery. Q uses this crazy delivery on a lot of songs here. I love how he just throws his voice everywhere, going from high pitched to low in a second. He just sounds wild. Another area where Q excels on this album is the hooks. On almost every hook, Q delivers it with enough enthusiasm to make it catchy. Even though the hooks have a lot of different vibes, they all work. My favorite hooks, and the ones that stay stuck in my head, would be What they Want, Collard Greens, Hoover Street, Oxymoron, and of course, the insanely catchy Man of the Year. From a lyrical standpoint, Q really delivers on some songs here. Prescription/Oxymoron is a hard-hitting two parter about Q's drug problem. He even includes his daughter trying to wake him up while he is comatose. Oxymoron, the second part, features Q very happy that he has stopped selling drugs, adding to the "oxymoron" theme of the album. His and Her Friend, which features singer SZA, is probably the most weird, unorthodox track here. It utilizes some slow production and voice shifters to create something very calm. It is a great song, and reminds me of something ASAP Rocky would make. Speaking of other rappers, the features on Oxymoron were pretty good. Raekwon killed it on Blind Threats, 2 Chainz added a lot to the song What they Want, and Jay Rock had a good verse on Los Awesome. While I was disappointed Tyler didn't have a verse on The Purge, he did sound deliver an awesome hook. On the same song, Kurupt had probably my favorite guest verse on the album, as he brought the west coast styler with some humorous and awesome lyrics.

OXYMORON WRAP UP
+Schoolboy Q can really put songs together, you can tell he takes a lot of time on his craft
+Q raps with so much energy and fun, throws his voice around everywhere
+Catchy hooks all over the album
+Great production on most of the songs
+Awesome features
-Some production I didn't like

Best: Gangsta, Los Awesome, Break the Bank

Worst: Hell of a Night

Schoolboy Q- Oxymoron
9.0/10

Lil Herb- Welcome to Fazoland MIXTAPE REVIEW

Today, I'm reviewing the new, debut mixtape by Chicago rapper Lil Herb, Welcome to Fazoland. I only found out about this 17-year-old MC a few weeks ago, and upon hearing a few songs, I liked his style. The guy raps with a lot of aggression, and just comes off as a tough, hard-nosed rapper. Welcome to Fazoland is this guy's first legit, real body of work, and I was pretty excited to give it a listen. Did Lil Herb come through on this mixtape?

Like I said earlier, Lil Herb's best quality as an MC is his delivery. The guy is basically yelling his lyrics on most of the songs here, and he just has a very tough, mean sounding voice. Herb is really commanding the listener to hear what he is saying, and it works. Whenever his booming voice comes in on a song, I am immediately hooked in. Lil Herb's flow is pretty decent on these tracks. He has a lot of different flows, going slower on some songs, then slowing it down on others. None of his flows really sound that different or interesting, though. While Herb's lyrics are not his strong point at all, some of his lines just stick in my head. This is probably not as much about the lyrics themselves, but the way he delivers them. This guy seriously uses his gritty voice to carry tracks. The song 4 Minutes of Hell Part 3 is definitely the toughest here, and Herb just sounds awesome. He raps with a whole lot of passion and aggressiveness. Herb also does a good job here of making catchy songs, and a few songs on this tape have awesome hooks that got stuck in my head easily. This guy can really put together a banger, using nothing but energy to create some awesome tracks. Koolin, On the Corner, Mamma I'm Sorry, Another Day, and Still Fucked Up are my favorites here, and I love most of these for their aggression. The most surprising moment on this tape was Herb putting together a serious, lyrical song with Mamma I'm Sorry. The title is an obvious giveaway to the song's content, and even though it is a common rap topic, Herb sounded really emotional and angry on the track. I really do enjoy a lot of these tracks, as Lil Herb has one of the best deliveries I have heard in a while.

The beats on this mixtape are not really anything special, but they do their job: match the level of aggression that Lil Herb is rapping with. These are just some banging trap beats that are, bringing some serious energy to the table. Not one of these beats could be described as mellow. These instrumentals are dirty, loud, and mean, matching the rapping very nicely. I do have a few problems with the production, though. The beats end up really samey by the end, and there are only a few on the album that are unique or different from your regular trap beat. One of my favorites, though, is the song Koolin. This one mixes in some dramatic opera vocals with the high hats and makes an epic trap instrumental. Overall, though, if you took away the MC, these beats would be incredibly weak. Luckily, Lil Herb is there to make the beats sound a lot better. There were very few features on this mixtape, but they were decent for the most part. The best was easily King L on Another Day, who absolutely killed his verse and made the song great.

WELCOME TO FAZOLAND WRAP UP
+Herb spits with so much aggression, he is able to carry songs with his voice alone
+Some songs have very catchy, well done hooks
+His flow just works, he has lots of talent
+Beats match his aggression
-He doesn't have much in terms of lyricism
-Instrumentals are very, very generic

Best: Koolin, 4 Minutes of Hell Part 3, Another Day

Worst: Ain't For None

Lil Herb- Welcome to Fazoland
7.5/10

Isaiah Rashad- Cilvia Demo ALBUM REVIEW

Today I'm reviewing the very anticipated debut project from Isaiah Rashad, Cilvia. This guy became pretty popular in the underground after signing with the acclaimed label TDE, making an appearance on a BET cypher with the group, and releasing some pretty promising songs and music videos. I have really enjoyed his songs that he has dropped so far, and this album is one of my most anticpated for this year. Will Isaiah Rashad release the fantastic project that I am expecting him to?

The first thing that really hit me upon listening to this was Isaiah Rashad's very unique rapping style. The guy is so unconventional, with a choppy, aggressive delivery that really doesn't sound like anyone else. He really knows how to ride a beat though, as there weren't any moments where I felt his flow was off. Everything just sounded smooth. In terms of lyrics, Isaiah's verses are all over the place, but he always manages to a sneak some great lines into his songs. My favorite song on this album is Soliloquy, which is sadly the shortest song here. This track embodies Rashad's rapping style perfectly. As he just really packs a lot of nice bars into a short song. Every other line on this track just makes you think twice. It was sort of like a freestyle, but it was awesome. Isaiah's rapping is pretty attention grabbing on a lot of other songs here, such as Webbie Flow, Menthol, and Shot You Down. The main highlight of all these songs is definitely the rapping, as Isaiah Rashad is such an interesting MC. When he really gets aggressive on a song, he almost reminds me of Kendrick Lamar. In addition to his great rapping, Isaiah can put together a nice, catchy hook. On most of the songs here where Rashad does the hook himself, it ended up getting stuck in my head. R.I.P. Kevin Miller had an awesomely infectious and simple hook, as did Cilvia Demo and Brad Jordan. He even has a full singing track here, West Savannah, and it was just so relaxed, as the love story atmosphere of the song was done perfectly. I also loved the catchy hook on it. That was definitely one of my favorites on the album. Overall, Isaiah Rashad is one of the most fascinating MCs I have heard in a while, and it was just so cool hearing him do all these different things.

While I do feel that Isaiah Rashad is the main focus of this album, the instrumentals are effective in setting a nice backdrop for Isaiah to do his thing. A majority of these are very laid-back, smooth, and atmospheric. They do not stray away from the signature TDE sound at all. I really love how the laid-back beats create a contrast with Isaiah's tough delivery. One of the most simple, but best beats here was Webbie Flow. This one made use of some catchy drums and vocal samples mixed with some atmospheric synths just hanging around. The beat on the song Ronnie Drake was great too, with some very unique and relaxing percussion flowing in and out of the track. The song Tranquility, as the title might suggest, had a calm, minimal beat that set the stage for Rashad's storytelling on the track. As far as features go, they were really nice on Cilvia Demo. On Shot You Down, TDE label mates Jay Rock and Schoolboy Q kill their verses, especially Jay Rock, who came through with an absolutely nasty verse, as usual. Michael Da Vinci had a decent verse on Brad Jordan, despite some corny lines. Finally, SZA and Jean Deaux used their beautiful voices to make great hooks on Ronnie Drake and Menthol, respectively. Ronnie Drake in particular had a fantastic hook, one of the best I have heard in a while. While there is no credited singer on the song  Heavenly Father, that was another great, emotional hook.

CILVIA DEMO WRAP UP
+Isaiah Rashad is ridiculously unique, with a jittery flow that sounds smooth at the same time
+Some cool lyrical ideas, as well as great punchlines
+Isaiah has a whole lot of passion and aggressiveness when rapping
+Awesomely catchy hooks all over the album
+Laid-back, smooth, instrumentals
-Some of the more relaxed songs end up sounding samey

Best: R.I.P. Kevin Miller, West Savannah, Soliloquy

Worst: Brad Jordan

Isaiah Rashad- Cilvia Demo
8.7/10

Kid Ink- My Own Lane ALBUM REVIEW

To be honest, this is an album I was really not excited to listen to, and a review I was just not excited to write. Kid Ink is easily one of my least favorite rappers at the moment. He has an irritating voice, and he has never really had any lyrical ability in my opinion. There are definitely a lot more pop rappers who I enjoy more right now This California rapper also seems to be stuck between mainstream and underground right now, putting this album in a bit of an awkward spot. Will Kid Ink make me a fan with this new studio album?

As a rapper, Kid Ink's weaknesses eventually outnumber his strengths. Unfortunately, for all his catchy hooks and occasionally solid lyrics, he struggles mightily with delivery, flow, and just putting together good verses. This guy's verses are just so empty to me, as he isn't really saying anything aside from the nice punchline every once in a while. I got extremely bored during his verses all over this album. None of these songs have really distinct lyrical ideas, as all of them are either about the same old lame topics: women, haters, or his come-up. Even what Kid Ink labels as a "personal track" ends up sounding like the others and doesn't make me feel anything. My favorite songs on this album are the ones with catchy hooks, because at least these are listenable. The first two songs, Hello World and The Movement, were both upbeat, good songs with extremely catchy hooks. Rollin was a decent song that I enjoyed compared to the others on the album, but it really was not a very good song. Even some of the feature tracks that I was excited for were disappointing. Murda, which featured one of my favorite rappers, Pusha T, was a pretty corny track overall, with a lackluster Pusha verse. Iz U Down featuring Tyga was boring as well. One of the worst moments on the entire album came from Machine Gun Kelly's guest verse on No Miracles. Absolutely terrible. The worst song, though, that I'm saving for last, is the nauseating love song, Tattoo of My Name. This song topic was just stupid and the ballad type track that Kid Ink was going for turned out awful.

The beats on this album were definitely better than the rapping, but of course, that isn't saying much. The instrumentals, while catchy, were not anything new or interesting. My favorite beat here was probably the song The Movement. The fast, upbeat nature of this beat had my head bopping the whole time, and is just had a very cool and infectious sound. The song I Don't Care was a pretty good, atmospheric beat and Murda was the most experimental of the bunch, with a vocal sample throughout that created a dark vibe for the song. Besides these, a lot of these beats sounded similar, like regular radio commercial hip hop beats. Some of these really sounded rushed, thrown together, and generic. Hello World, Main Chick, Rollin, and No Miracles all had extremely lazy, common instrumentals that I feel like I have heard hundreds of times.

MY OWN LANE WRAP UP
+Really catchy hooks on some songs
+Some good instrumental moments
-Kid Ink is a weak MC; no flow and terribly uninteresting
-Generic, rushed instrumentals all over
-No variety in anything; lyrics, song topics, beats
-Features didn't bring anything, not even Pusha T

Best: Hello World, The Movement, Rollin

Worst: Tattoo of My Name

Kid Ink- My Own Lane
3.8/10

Roc Marciano- Marci Beaucoup ALBUM REVIEW

Roc Marciano is one of those rappers who will always kill a guest verse, but hasn't yet put together a great solo album. His last album, Reloaded, was pretty good, but had very little replay value, with zero features and a similar flow and delivery on every track. At the same time, Roc's flow and delivery are both sick. The guy is easily one of the best and most technically skilled rappers right now. With this album having a lot of features and full production from Roc Marciano himself, I was pretty excited to listen to it.

From an instrumental standpoint, Roc Marciano proves himself to be a very sharp producer. Roc quickly establishes that his beats have a signature sound: old school samples and smooth instrumentation. While at first the production seems a little too samey, further listening proves some beats do stand out compared to others. My favorite beat on this album is easily the first track, Love Means. The sample is just looped and cut so well as it repeats over and over. The beat is smooth, relaxing, and just an awesome instrumental. While a number of beats on this album, such as the songs 456, Cut the Check, Drug Lords, are very peaceful and calm, there are some harder, high energy instrumentals here.  The song Didn't Know has an awesome mixture of high pitched piano keys and loud, booming drums, giving it an old school hip hop feel combined with new flavor.  I do have an issue with several of the beats on Marci Beaucoup. This issue is that a lot of them, particularly the ones with samples, are a little overdone. The samples are sometimes too loud, taking attention away from the rapping. This doesn't happen on that many songs, but it definitely gets a little annoying on 456, Psych Ward, and Soul Music.

The rapping on Marci Beaucoup is pretty good, overall. Roc Marciano sticks a feature on every track, giving this album a lot of personality and variety. My favorite collaboration here is easily the second song, Squeeze. This one features Ka and Guilty Simpson, and both of them kill it. Ka's laid back, quiet rapping style was perfect over this beat, and Guilty Simpson follows with a lot of energy and some nice lines. Another solid feature track is Didn't Know, which has Freeway and Knowledge the Pirate. While Knowledge the Pirate really wasn't that great here, Freeway more than made up for it. He absolutely murdered this verse, with quotables all over the song , and I just love how animated he is while rapping. The last feature song I want to talk about is the song War Scars featuring Cormega and Ag Da Coroner. There is not much to say about this one, as it was just a very good track with nice verses from all three rappers. Other good features for me were Boldy James, Evidence, Maffew Ragazino, and Blu. All of these guys made their songs better and had great verses. Roc Marciano himself was very consistent throughout this album, but almost to a fault. His verses on these songs were good, but it seemed like he didn't change anything up throughout  the album. All his verses really sounded similar, with great flow, awesome wordplay, and a quiet delivery. It gets a little monotonous. I still respect how great of a rapper this guy is, though.

MARCI BEAUCOUP WRAP UP
+Roc Marciano has amazing technical rapping ability and lyrics
+The features were pretty solid for the most part
+Smooth, relaxing production with some nice samples
-Roc Marciano spits the same kind of verse on every song, gets a little boring
-Some of the songs sounded rushed
-A few of the instrumentals interfered with the rapping, creating some awkward songs

Best: Love Means, Squeeze, Didn't Know

Worst: Soul Music

Roc Marciano- Marci Beaucoup
7.4/10

Evidence & Alchemist- Lord Steppington ALBUM REVIEW

This review is one that I have been very excited to do, as this album was one of my most anticipated for 2014. This is California MC Evidence and famed producer The Alchemist getting together for a collaboration album, titled Lord Steppington. The Alchemist has been killing it for the past few years, producing albums for rappers such as Action Bronson, Domo Genesis, Boldy James, Prodigy, and more. Evidence is the latest MC to receive the Alchemist treatment. How will this ver anticipated album end up sounding.

Starting with the rapping, Lord Steppington actually features Alchemist rapping on almost every song, unlike his other projects. Alchemist holds his own on his verses, though, as he has a unique voice and his flow is pretty solid. Some verses are a lot better than others, but overall, he was pretty good rapping on this album. The highlight, though, is Evidence. He is a sharp MC, and I absolutely love everything about his style. He has a lazy voice and delivery, but he goes at a lot of different speeds and his flow is always changing. On songs like More Wins and Legendary Mesh, Evidence carries the tracks with some sick verses and great lyrics. Besides the great duo of Evidence and Alchemist, the other highlight of this album would be the features. They really elevate the project and bring variety to it. On the song Byron G, Domo Genesis and Mad Skillz put in great verses to really make an epic song. On Mums in the Garage and See the Rich Man Play, which feature Action Bronson and Roc Marciano, respectively, the guest verses make already great songs even better. On the other hand, some of the features make songs that were a bit forgettable and make them good. This happens on No Hesitation featuring Styles P, and also on Draw Something featuring Oh No. Finally, the song Tomorrow is a relaxing posse cut with Rakaa and Blu spitting great verses on it. Overall, Evidence was fantastic, Alchemist was pretty good, and the features were just awesome.

With the beats on this album, Alchemist simply continued his winning streak. The beats on this album are fantastic. In my opinion, his production on this album was some of his best in years. It was a lot more ambitious, varied, and unique than on the projects he produced for Boldy James and Prodigy. He brings out ridiculous samples and puts together some crazy sounds. My favorite instrumental on this album was the song Dr. Kimble. This one was just an infectious, grimy, sick synth riff that just flowed all over the place, and it sounded nasty. Combined with the signature Alchemist drums, this one was an absolute banger. The song Step Masters was pretty similar, as this one featured more sharp drums and unique sounds that just had my head bopping. Mums in the Garage was another beat that really stood out. It wasn't as unique as others, but it still stood it out for its catchiness. The only shaky part of the production was the sampling. On some songs it really worked, like See the Rich Man Play and Tomorrow. On some songs, though, it was just a little too weird and came off sounding corny, this definitely happened on Banging Sounds featuring Fashawn and Buzzing Away. Evidence even produced one track here, Byron G. He really killed it, as the drums sounded sick mixed in with some soft guitar sounds. It was a sick instrumental, definitely one of my favorites. The production on this album was awesome, had a lot of variety, and didn't sound anything I've heard before.

LORD STEPPINGTON WRAP UP
+sharp verses from Evidence all over the album
+Alchemist was very solid as a rapper
+Evidence and Alchemist's chemistry is great
+Terrific features
+Ambitious production from Alchemist
-Some corny moments in the production

Best: Byron G, Dr. Kimble, Tomorrow

Worst: Buzzing Away

Evidence & Alchemist- Lord Steppington
8.4/10

Retch- Polo Sporting Goods MIXTAPE REVIEW

Today, for my first review of 2014, I will be reviewing Polo Sporting Goods, the new mixtape from New Jersey MC Retch. I have heard this guy on a few features and I was really feeling it. He has a grimy, mean delivery and his voice always catches whenever he starts rapping on a track. After seeing the features on this mixtape, I decided to give it a listen. Will Retch become one of my favorite underground artists with this new mixtape?

To start with the production, it is all done by Thelonious Martin. The beats on this mixtape don't have a whole lot of variety to them. I woudn't say this is a bad thing, though, as this happens on most projects that are only done by one producer. There were some seriously great instrumentals on this project, and the first one that really stuck out to me was the song Burgundy Windbreaker. This one made use of some happy, high-pitched synths that went in and out of the same melody throughout the song. It was a very catchy beat and it had an emotional, fun vibe to it. Pimp Sport was another good beat, as it featured a relaxing female vocal combined with some soft percussion sounds. This beat sounded really great. The best instrumental on this album was easily the intro, Graceful Jewelry Removal. It was unlike any hip hop beat I have heard in a while, as it had a very unique and chilling sound effect playing throughout it, and i don't even know what it is, but it sounds amazing. This song also had a sinister synth line going on that gave it a dark vibe. This instrumental was just fantastic. Overall, the beats on Polo Sporting Goods were pretty good, and I really can't complain about any individual one, though I just wish there was more variety.

Retch's vocal performance on this mixtape was just awesome, to put it simply. This guy has some great qualities as a rapper. For one, he raps with a bossy and insolent demeanor on a lot of these songs. He definitely has a lot of personality. He also uses a huge variety of flows and has a pretty unique voice. On the song Odd Sweaters 1992, Retch pulls out one great line after another, as he really flexed his lyrical skills on this song. His flow was also on point, as it sounded effortless and calm. The best song on this album from a technical rapping standpoint was definitely Paul Allen's Business Card. Right from the start of this song, Retch's flow was very different from the other songs, and it was just such a memorable flow. He rode the beat so well and kept changing his delivery and flow up as the song went on. I was very impressed with his abilities on this song. Lyrically, my favorite song on this mixtape was Special Jim. This is really the only song where Retch tells a legit story. He talks about friend named Jim who a paraplegic competing in the special olympics. He really gets detailed, talking about what Jim liked on his ice cream, what he wore, and what his family was like. This track was very sentimental and the lyrics were fantastic. As far as features go, familiar names Ab-Soul, Action Bronson, and Dash make appearances, and they were all decent, but none of their verses were as good as Retch's in the songs they were on. It was a little disappointing. Ab-Soul was probably the best though, just delivering a very solid verse with some nice punchlines.

POLO SPORTING GOODS WRAP UP
+Retch is an excellent MC flow wise and has great delivery
+Great punchlines and lyrics
+Pretty good beats, some fantastic ones
+Cool, relaxing vibe to the tape
-Underwhelming features
-Beats were a little samey

Best: Graceful Jewelry Removal, Burgundy Windbreaker, Special Jim

Worst: Blue Fin Tuna

Retch- Polo Sporting Goods
8.2/10