Sometimes you don’t need anyone but yourself to rock the boat. This man has had a killer 2025 already, and now he’s decided to take a deep breath, a break from everyone else, and focus on himself and present to the culture something different and memorable! Let’s talk about it!
This is the brand-new EP by MC and beatmaker Mike Martinez. Featuring five songs with 13 minutes of content, and I’ll be lying if I said I wasn’t excited for this one! Considering how consistently he’s been killing it this year, to hear a solo EP is something that equally impressed and intrigued me!
Right off the bat, we hear Mike go the classic approach with influences from the late 90s and early to mid-2000s in construction.
For example, on the track ‘Neptunes in Aries’, we have a track that reminds me of either mid-career Nas or early-career Immortal Technique!
You’ve got those classical jazz-inspired chords looping with those minimalist drum patterns! The perfect kind of beat to use to showcase one’s lyrical ability, and that’s exactly what Mike does. Nothing but two minutes of solid bars, introspective bars, and quality pen game!
On track 2, ‘Jupiter Cazimi’, we have a track that sonically reminds me of 2005 G Unit or Mobb Deep. A beat I’d expect to hear on the ‘Blood Money’ record.
Those fast-paced, lively chords in a repetitive loop and those slow, methodical drums with those delicate keys appearing in those transition moments! Very catchy and infectious track with Mike sounding a bit more lively and fresh on this track, with him confidently talking his shit and reminding everyone why he’s the man with his smooth flow and rhythm structure!
Track 3, ‘Mercury Retrograde’, takes us to a 90s-inspired sound, with it reminding me of a Big Pun or Gang Starr-influenced track with those long-executed synth chords and thick and rough drum
patterns! Very hypnotic and mesmerising!
This track acts as more of an interlude with no actual written verses but more a spoken word passage for the star sign of ‘Mercury’, very interesting listen!
Track 4 ‘Taurus Rising’ feels like the one track that is actually sonically inspired by the modern-day boom bap landscape! Those elongated strings, slow-paced drums, and overall minimalist feel to the whole thing! It’s gritty, dark, and melodic in its own rugged way! Reminds me of an early Griselda or Reek Osama type track!
On this track, we hear Mike sounding more introspective than usual. He sounds like a poet who’s sitting in the studio with a pen and a bottle of whisky, just spewing out what’s on his head alongside this acoustic-type beat! His rhythm is more slow and methodically performed like a warning speech to the world!
On the final track ‘Lion’s Gate’, we see Mike closing off the track in the most theatrical way possible! From that thrilling opening spoken word to the evolving of the beat with those classic/opera elements of those high-strung strings and surreal drums, as if he has a live band in the studio with him! I can’t really compare this track to anyone else; it’s just grand in every sense of the word!
We hear Mike closing off the EP in style, with big energy, high enthusiasm, and performance. He ain’t leaving this finale without talking his superior shit, and he does just that! Sharp lyricism, god flow, and introspective vibes that have him reminiscing about the world and his place in it!
Overall, another solid drop by Martinez! He hasn’t missed yet, and he just proved he doesn’t need anybody to make his shit pop!
https://open.spotify.com/album/2r6fl4qLHmTkL3uFTH1SBo?si=fAo-sUVcST2z5dhUb7nDyw
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