I must say, out of all the EP’s I had to look forward to for this year, THIS ONE was at the top of the list! Why? Easy. It’s because this man impressed me so much last year with nothing but banger releases while working with an array of talented artists, and now he’s returned for what is the first 6th man album of 2026 and one that is absolutely incredible! Let’s talk about it!
This is the brand-new EP by Producer Shade Cobain and MC StretchShinoPro, and together they drop a solid 6-track project with 12 minutes of dope music that starts the year off STRONG!
Let’s talk about the production first! On this one, we see Shade flexing his incredible versatility and ability behind the beats, taking from a wide range of influences and genres to create his magic.
We have the opening track -aiyo, which has this old-school 80’s R&B vibe, start only to evolve into this heavy, thudding early 2000’s-inspired influence that is absolutely infectious!
It’s got those powerful bass strings, light vocal snippets in the background, funky drum patterns, and this old-school 90’s synth chord that runs through the song!
This reminds me of a song Busta Rhymes would have jumped on in the 2000’s!
The second track we have -boogieinnthebackground, which might be my favourite instrumental on the whole album! It’s got this heavy boogie, funky atmosphere to it that makes you wanna dance! It’s got this synth wave/pop chord progression that runs in two layers, one being a prominent note loop and the other an insane rhythm which sounds like messy electric guitar that gives me goosebumps!
On top of all that, we have these plucked bass strings and jazz-inspired drums! This is a powerhouse track if there ever was one!
The third track -yeti has a more toned-down feel compared to the one right before! Inheriting influences from Soul, Funk, and I even feel a tad of inspiration from Gospel! You’ve got those groovy synth keyboard notes that feel fucking delicious in delivery! The type of notes that make you wanna move your head and body!
Ontop of those, there’s a second layer featuring plucked bass strings that take me back to the 70s/80s Parliament era days, and I fucking love it!
Topped up with some light, methodical drum work, and you have a song that, although lighter than the second track, is still infectious in nature!
Track four -Eastside Boyz has one of the more traditional hip-hop flavours to the album than the rest!
You’ve got these funky/plucked bass strings, some distorted what sounds like synth keys in a scattered motion!
The effect I love added on this track is the varied chipmunk vocal arrangements that give this song a strong soul feel but still a more hip-hop instrumental feel compared to the others, anyway feeling like a song De La Soul would jump on!
Track five -Private Enemies has one of my favourite intros of the whole album with that RnB accapella feel that evolves into this 2000s Kanye West type track!
You’ve got those looped soul vocal harmonies that are combined with these (what sound sci-fi style water drops) running through the track! Some subtle bass strings and some super laidback drums as this track relies on the strength of the incredible vocals (in the loop and the chorus) to carry it! And I love every second of it!
The final track -the playback I feel is the definition of hip-hop brought to life. It feels like Shade was showing off his incredible charisma and diversity in the last five and decided to close off with a straightforward hip-hop take!
This track has some light bass strings, raw, heavy drum beats, and what sounds like a distant vocal harmony in the background that acts as a prominent loop!
This is the more minimal track compared to the rest, and yet I feel it’s the appropriate way to close off!
I also love the song ends. I’m familiar with this sample as Drake uses it on his ‘Passionfruit’ track, one of my favourite songs by him, and it’s used tastefully here as well!
As far as the rapping goes, I found it to be quite interesting because each track had his vocals and performances used in a different way! Some were mixed more lightly and closer to the background for a more ambient effect, some (such as the finale track) brought the verses more in the forefront to compliment the straight forward hip hop song and others felt like in between executions with Shade experimenting with how to utilise his bars in sound and structure and I actually liked it!
Like for example in track 2- his vocals sounded a tad bit louder then usual to be heard clearer over that heavily busy instrumental with slight echo effect on it!
On track 5 his voice sounded blended in with the beat itself for the more abstract delivery! It’s as if Shade was going for a more experimental take on this song and his performance did stand out a bit more due to this effect!
Then of course on tracks such as the second, third and finale they are just straight forward clear as day executions, crisp, clear and smooth!
I can’t imagine it would be easy to find a man that can pair so organically to the lavish production at hand but this man did so! He had such an eccentric and entertaining cadence that it worked with the beats!
A technical flow, a smooth delivery, engaging wordplay and pen game as well dope, Fire bars that made me feel like I was listening to a ‘Phife Dawg’ someone with mad personality and even madder rhyme schemes!
This EP delivered everything and more. I wasn’t expecting the production to be this fucking colorful but it was! And this MC rapping over it with ease? That’s a special chemistry out there one I don’t want any of you to miss! Check it out now!
https://open.spotify.com/album/4CV6WIqMXjisws7RFY7LeO?si=yjVRfZRNQ1yqoP_WAny6JQ
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