(T.R.L.T: The Road Less Traveled)

It’s been a minute since I covered the MC ‘MALCOLMSEF’, and this time he’s back with a short 12-minute EP featuring eight tracks, so let’s get into it!

So, this EP features MC ‘MALCOLMSEF’ and is produced by ‘Skip The Kid’, and together with this shirt EP, and after reviewing a few singles by the man, I understood he prefers shorter tracks. I just didn’t expect the EP to be this short! In fact, the longest track is the finale song, which I already reviewed, which was ‘2 minutes and 42 seconds’.

Regardless, I feel MALCOL does have a speciality to him that not many others have. He does have a level of confidence to him, a rare form of aura, and dedication to his craft that is infectious to hear. His rapping is methodical and timely; he’s never in a rush, which is great to hear! 

His flow is on point, and he has witty and interesting lyricism followed by crisp and enthusiastic wordplay that makes him a treat to listen to on the tracks.

He doesn’t have to stay long per song to make an impact, and the fact he can do more with less is even more reason why he’s a unique player in the game right now and definitely underrated!

Skip The Kid, the man who I’ve seen praised all over social media, and now I know why. This man has excellent technique, and on this EP, he brings a more ‘Ambient/Lo Fi/Introspective’ instrumentals and beats that put the body to ease and give the listeners a stress-free, relaxing yet experimental listening experience that lets your mind wander while appreciating dope beats and dope verses.

It’s also interesting the few snippets of skits, one about someone not having a reason to get out of bed or a cat with a ski mask on holding a gun, such random offerings, but in a peculiar way, it works on this one!

With only 12 minutes of content to utilise, he brings us all on a sonic adventure that I guarantee won’t be replicated! 

So, join this dynamic duo on a journey that won’t take you long to finish but will forever be remembered!

Also shoutout to twogeebs for his killer verses across the project!

https://open.spotify.com/album/5lxMg8WnLZUa4140xXg6DZ?si=wa4Zzbk_Tb-nyQt1A-1NVQ

(Wavy Bullet)

Just because Bori Rock and FEED THE FAMILY are running shit right now, don’t get it twisted. The boys have been on their grind shit for years now and this collaboration is the perfect example of that! Going back two years and still one of the hardest records to come out, period! Let’s talk about it.

This is the 2023 album between FEED THE FAMILY MC BoriRock and underground powerhouse producer Grubby Pawz, and together they dropped a 13-track album with the following roster behind them!

– Al. Divino

-Shaykh Hanif

-The Hidden Character 

-Estee Nack

-Reyski45

-Dun Dealy

-TOP HOOTER

And featuring this stacked lineup, there’s no way they can lose, and spoiler alert, they don’t. 

Starting with Grubby’s production, the man focuses on a blend of serene, harmonic chords and strings mixed with tough and cold boom bap sounds that make for one of the freshest listening experiences of the last few years!

For example, that intro track ‘Bullet Rain’, which just consists of an instrumental almost ASMR rain track that leads into a smooth Jazz/Hip Hop blend into the second track ‘Hoot Sinatra’, and the variety blends only gets better across the rest of the album.

We have tracks like ‘Feds Listeni’ featuring Al Divino and Shaykh Hanif, which adds these theatrical elements with those ambient chords in the background, that skeletal beat, and those light piano keys that combine to a smooth yet muddy hip hop track.

Even the track ‘Wave Affair’, which features the same two names and The Hidden Character and Estee Nack, who bring levels of aura that no other artists could hope to replicate, and that beat which sounds like a combination of Godzilla is coming and the cinematic universe sound for bees swarming. It’s truly a masterpiece of sounds coming together to create a thrilling hip hop beat that complements the names involved.

Grubby Pawz uses his immense skill to provide the audience with a variety of sounds and doing so without sounding awkward or messy but smooth and fluent!

As far as the rapping goes, BoriRock has always been a man in his own self-created lane. He doesn’t sound, rap, feel like anyone else but him, and that’s what makes him such a powerhouse in this game. With every new release, he’s only building on ‘himself’ and no one else. His trademark high-pitched vocals and his unrivalled energy, combined with his raw and gritty lyricism and booming flow, always make him a favourite to tune into in the scene right now.

His adlibs are also infectious as he announces himself with full passion and enthusiasm across each track, which fills the listener with a level of adrenaline that most artists can’t provide!

Across this masterful production, it does feel like he’s trying his best to use his unlimited power and MC skills to make the instrumentals shine 10x fold, and with the help of the other titans on track with him, all combined, they make this record one to remember!

If you’ve been impressed with Bori Rock today, then you’ll absolutely love this one and no doubt appreciate the chemistry between him and Grubby Pawz as they both continue their run of untouchable consistency that most wish they had! 

https://open.spotify.com/album/4cT5zvT4mBLlWOLIuy2vAX?si=4iLpcXYYT6ylEChHjK597g

(Let The World Burn)

Man, talk about an explosion of a record! The number of people that are featured on this roster is staggering, and the quality between the main MC and producers is something to be studied, so let’s talk it!

This is the latest collaboration between MC C. Rae and a banger list of producers and MC’s he brings with him, the likes of: 

-JACK THE RAPPER

-Crown

-Shifty Eyes

-Prototype 

-DC The MIDI Alien

-Fiché Hess

-Young Zee

-Juxx Diamondz

-Watts

-Baddfxsh 

– Executive

-Illtemper

-Marcus Paris

-Madchild

-Past One

-Floun 

-K3voh

-Suspect

-Swab

-King Magnetic

-Mikey Bingo

-Lateb 

-Chris Rivers

-Moth

-Slaine

-Scandalist

-Big Kurt

-Thea Alana

-D Rec 

-The White Shadow of Norway

-Celph Titled

-Sars Kuma

-Chief Kamachi

-Doap Nixon

That is literally an army. So imagine trying to navigate this many artists in one place? Well, amazingly, it’s accomplished across this one! Let’s start with the production.

What these various producers are able to accomplish is creating a grimy Australian boom Bap street rap experience that we haven’t really heard (or at least I haven’t) in the last 10 years or more back during the ‘Grind Time Australia’ movement, back when the DCORP cypher supergroup was active and Kerser was just coming up and before all that controversy of 360 and his mainstream sell-out phase.

During that era, you had arguably the best Aussie rap in the game, and although not all artists in this compilation album may not be from Australia, most are, and they help bring the essence and era of that time to the present day.

For those who aren’t from Australia, imagine the Hardcore East Coast Grime but mix in old-school scratches and DJ work from the 80s, early 90s, and add in an extra level of muddy atmosphere, and you have the recipes for ‘prime era’ Aussie rap, which is replicated here in spades.

I’ll be honest, beside that era, I never really paid attention to Australian rap, but this album brings back my nostalgia of that era, being a teenager listening to this shit in a hot shed getting high blasting DCORP cyphers, and so for that, I give this album mad props!

It’s ruthless, unforgiving, with nothing but shape and precise boom Bap-inspired production with beats so tough if you’re not careful, it will crawl out your headphones and punch you in the face for taking it for granted!

As far as the rapping goes, you’ve got what I can only assume is the present-day cream of the crop in the Aussie market of Hip Hop spitting their motherfucking asses off, as well as legendary names such as ‘Swab’ and ‘Celph Titled’ assisting on this record to give it that extra muddy flavour.

Each song features more than three different MC’s per track, and each of them destroys the tracks they are on.

Each dominates the tracks with their infectious delivery, raw lyricism, and flow, as well as a lethal cadence that leaves an impression long after the album is done.

This has to be the most stacked album of the year, and with all the quality on sight MC’s and producers alike, this one will definitely be one for the record books!

This gargantuan record is something you don’t want to miss! Trust!

https://open.spotify.com/album/4snPCH5DhTjdxKtmqmdb0x?si=03zNXWrHQmawKchkYs1ITA

(Minimansiondust Vol 5)

We’ve officially made it to 2021 and, more importantly, Vol. 5 of this incredible series. We’ve had quite a journey going through, from his debut to the various sounds and styles to Estee finding himself and his current form, to just how far he’s willing to explore and experiment over the years, and now we are back with this! So let’s get to it!

This one by MC Estee Nack and production by Mr. Rose, a collaboration for the ages that seems exclusively for these volumes regardless. Always love to hear when they work together! With 11 new tracks and just over an hour of content, we have features from

-Jae Nes 

-Kashi2x

-Singapore Kane

-Wst. Taylor

-Smedgo 

-Kaleo Jacob’s

-Xcel

-Shalom

-Willy Will

And you know what, this time around I don’t know what Mr. Rose was on for this one, but he went in a direction I wasn’t expecting! It was a mixture of psychedelic, traditional Dominican music mixed with gritty boom bap and smooth classical and jazz instrumentation. It’s wild!

It’s as if he’s gone ‘why not combine all the inspirations I used off the last four volumes and combine them all into one extraordinary piece of music?’ And let me tell you what, it’s a sight to hear! 

Everything is done to such a perfectionist degree that it’s impossible to spot any faults! It’s grand, it’s soulful, it’s raw and it’s groovy. It’s literally everything rolled into one but done in such a way that feels natural instead of clunky and awkward as some records can come off by other artists who try to incorporate too many things at once! If anyone deserves the award for most underrated producer, he definitely deserves a spot in that conversation for all the brilliant work he’s done on these series alone!

Onto Estee and Friends, which again unfortunately doesn’t include Al, who is normally such a staple figure to Estee, but once again the roster he brought with him are powerhouses in their own right that make up for the fact!

We have lyrical and charismatic phenoms who have haunted the industry for years with their abilities, crazy approach to the underground, and sheer talent that will scare away any fake ones from trying them.

Then we have Estee, the bilingual powerhouse himself, who has proven himself time and time again why he’s one of the most popular and sought-after names in the industry, even back then, let alone tenfold now. His undeniable charisma and flow put him in the GOAT conversation, and the way he can manipulate words and beats is something to be studied, as very few (if any) can replicate this mastery.

Once again, in this golden series of albums, both Mr Rose and Estee pull off another (dare I say) modern-day classic, as you could make an argument each of the volumes is. If you ain’t checking these volumes out, you’re the one missing out! 

https://open.spotify.com/album/1tsecJW9rV3ncBaFEvlMSN?si=ut8LW1upTYSEabBbzdqdqQ

(CRYPTIC)

It’s time for a new singles review by a submission! I’m almost honoured to have people reach out and trust my words and process, and so here we go again! 

This is the latest single by MC Kade The Myth and features production by Cuschi. This song is 2 minutes and 28 seconds long! 

Right off the bat, this song starts with a very eerie and dark instrumental, which evolves into a funky, infectious boom Bap beat with some groovy bass lines in the background that give the track that extra level of ‘it’ factor.

This is the perfect beat to listen to on repeat, thanks to its mystical and mysterious feel to it and the nature of the beat, so damn near dark and twisted, it adds something to it that makes you want to repeat this song for days.

On this beat, you have MC Kase, who I only discovered today yet, and when I say he goes off, he fucking goes OFF. 

I’ve listened to this song already 4x over and added this song to my playlist not just because that beat is ridiculous, but this MC, he spits every bar right on the beat. He has a fluent flow, and his wordplay and delivery got me scrunching my face up throughout the whole song. Especially towards the end when he decides to go off with pun after pun, witty lines, and savage bars, this guy just doesn’t know how to stop! Plus, I love how he ends the song with that last 3 seconds of beat with no words, it just adds extra vibe to the track to end it perfectly.

For a single, this thing fucking SLAPS! Very pleased with this one, and this will stay on my Spotify playlist permanently for sure! 

https://open.spotify.com/track/3Ox3r8AR8ZaU5U9Pkkvxf8?si=1pzp4HT6RfSITX5xa2y11A&context=spotify%3Aalbum%3A5Mlckfvdp5AbiEcqDkEW9O

I’m (Volume One)

Wow, what a treat to experience in today’s era. A record executive produced by the legendary Chuck D and provides a blast from the past to the golden era! Let’s talk about it.

So this is the latest release by MC Phill, Most Chill, with production from DJ MROK and, as stated above, executive produced by a legend! And this consists of 14 tracks, with 7 being the original songs and the last 7 being instrumental tracks of the same songs.

Now I say MC very strongly here because this album brings back the nostalgic, golden era of Hip Hop from the mid to late 80’s and early 90’s, and it’s wonderful to hear. The production is very reminiscent of acts like:

-Slick Rick

-Public Enemy

-Run DMC

-Erib and Rakim 

Very old-school traditional hip hop beats with lots of flavour, infectious cuts, and trademark groovy rhythms and bass lines that I can’t help but smile when I hear them because it takes me back to when I first discovered this era of rap about more than 15 years ago now and started my love of the genre in all its forms.

You forget how truly funky and contagious or damn near addictive the sounds were back in the day and has been replicated here. Instrumentals and songs used to be ‘fun’, how many albums have you heard this year that you can categorise as ‘fun?’ I can’t name many. It’s all about seriousness and gangsta shit or serious concepts and stories (which I love too), but again, you don’t realise what you’ve lost until you revisit the past, and DJ MROK understood this and did an absolutely perfect job at making a love letter to the old school!

Now onto Phill. The man with the most interesting name in the rap game! He’s tasked with bringing these beats to life, and let me tell you something, he does that and then some on this one! It’s incredible.

His style reminds me of all the MC greats! He has such an intellectual and witty flow that is a blast to listen to! To me, it sounds like a mixture of Slick Rick and Posdnuos; the constant flow switches and pen game is ridiculous. Fire after fire, bar after bar, this guy doesn’t stop.

He’s reviving the prime MC era of the 80s and bringing it to the modern age, and putting his own modern twist on top of it!

He’s like a lyrical freight train with no plans of stopping! Also, what’s cool is he provides instrumental tracks for those who just want the beats! Such an interesting perspective to add to an album, but I dig it!

Nothing I love more than throwbacks to the past, and this one was done better than any I’ve heard in a while. This felt like Silk Sonic but for hip hop, and instead of Bootsy Collins, it was Chuck D! Definitely don’t miss this one! 

https://open.spotify.com/album/2IXCPVd2YY02Y7w8YWHm5L?si=7887WRtXTgmtb_n7CoKJzw

(Birds Eye View)

Can you believe this will be the 301st review? Still can’t believe I’ve made it this far, but here we are, and let’s get into it!

So this is the latest EP collaboration between MC Don Enzo and producer Bhramabull and features the likes of 

-Daniel Son

-ReadyRockDee

And although this is only a short 5-track project with under 20 minutes of content, this thing hits HARD! 

Right off the bat, you can hear that classy, raw, smooth, and beautifully crafted production by Bharmabull. He makes the instrumentals feel fancy and high-end. He turns grimy and harsh sounds into something out of a cinema or opera. With those angelic tunes and harmonic strings and chords all laced into the form of a grand Hip Hop album, just makes this an absolute lavish and satisfying experience that I wasn’t expecting going into this.

Sure, there are some muddier cuts such as ‘Mothers Eyes’ featuring Daniel Son and ReadyRockDee, but for the most part, across this short EP, I feel like Bharmabull is fleshing out that extraordinary performance of blending the Classical with a modern-day originality to create truly one of the most stand-out and interesting EP’s to come out this year!

Now onto Don Enzo himself, what I took from his performance on this project was his raw and straightforward honesty, compelling speech patterns, and intricate approach to flow, lyricism, and pen game.

He isn’t the type to be flashy or fake for viewership’s sake; he’s just being him, and you can hear his down-to-earth nature in how he talks, his confidence, his personality, and energy across the tracks.

He has a fluent/smooth flow style that hits the beat pattern exactly when it’s supposed to. His lyricism is sharp, precise, and delivered with such force that it forces the listener to pay attention to every word he says.

Even when rapping alongside a deadly trio on that song I spoke about above, he still maintained his composure, rapped equally with the other two, and proved why he can rap alongside anyone. If he can rap well against those two, then he’s set for the industry itself.

One solid EP from start to finish, from spectacular production to killer verses and fantastic features, it literally has it all! 

https://open.spotify.com/album/2fqj2r3IbIqZ5J4BtbWiD2?si=R_RagWCxTeGEn4upoVXbjg

(BALADS)

Man, Estee. What a man and what a fucking career he’s had! I’ve covered almost ten of his albums lately and I haven’t found a dud yet. This man just has the definition of ‘IT’ factor and, including probably more releases on Bandcamp exclusive, this man has the catalogue and career everyone dreams of! But he has no plans of stopping and that’s where this comes in. Let’s talk about it!

So this is the March 2020 drop by Estee Nack and producer Superior. Together they drop eleven tracks with thirty-four minutes of content. Featuring the likes of 

-ETO

-Daniel Son

-The Real Ice Lord

-Recognize Ali

-Code Nine

And although once again missing the infamous Al, this is a solid lineup. A mixture of artists he’s worked with in the past and a few new ones. Regardless, this one is an interesting combination of sounds he’s done before and new influences combined.

Superior has this methodical approach to this album that’s intriguing to the ears. It’s as if he’s taking a more classical/theatrical path with opera vocal loops and deep, in-depth chord notes and harmonies that make you feel you’re in some Greek mythology timeline. The kind of ballads they would play is what I imagine this sounds like.

We get that flavour right off the bat with the opening track and then the album dives into more slow-paced production with empathies on the patterns, the sharpness of the music itself, and making sure it’s as clear and consistent as well as flavourful and infectious. He did everything on that list and more on this album!

Estee and company provide their trademark charismatic flows with a bit more emphasis, it feels, on the melodic side of things with more singing and notes by Estee as he utilises this harmonic production.

In no way would I consider this a ‘sentimental’ record, but the extra usage of vocal notes and softer touches on the adlibs makes me think that Estee (in his own way, of course) wants this record to be his once-off softer record as perhaps a change of pace or trying something new with this new producer.

Of course, I could be all wrong about this, but compared to his other albums past and present, Estee is definitely giving me a different vibe, and in no means is it a bad album. It’s fucking excellent, and it still inherits all the things we love from him, from his charisma to his originality in his flow and lyricism, so he’s still on top of his game even across this more melodic experience! 

Overall, regardless of how different this might sound compared to other releases, Estee makes this production work best for him, and he pulls off another stunning performance and makes for one of his most iconic albums to date!

https://open.spotify.com/album/52zrqsoMG3TnAL39aPSXQ6?si=FGRZic2gTQSq39wy4-ru-A

(IWANNAFXCKJADAFIRE)

Man, 2020 started off strong with Estee. Starting with a fantastic Minimansiondust Vol. 4 and now the first edition of his collaboration with producer Grubby Pawz, and together they released pure magic!

So, this is the 12th March 2020 release with 11 songs and 37 minutes. Featuring the likes of: 

-Mooch

-Daniel Son

-Rigz 

-JuneLyfe

-Codenine 

-SmooVth

-Haze

What’s surprising about this album is the lack of Al Divino. This might be the first project without him that I’ve covered; it definitely feels a bit empty without the dynamic duo, but with those amazing names, including the debut of Estee working with Daniel Son, this album still manages to pull off a phenomenal record that has all the potential and grit you were expecting!

The rapping on this one feels as charismatic and powerful as there has been so far. You can hear the passion, energy, and enthusiasm in their tones and style. What always surprises me about Nack is his originality and ability to create seamless flow that doesn’t follow any real pattern or reason. Kind of similar to an artist like MF DOOM, who never was bound down by the beat but always followed his own path with his lyricism, and that’s how I feel with Estee. He ain’t a slave to the production; he makes it work for him and manipulates it for his own benefit.

The features he has on this go absolutely ballistic in execution and delivery. Whenever you get the treat of hearing both Estee X Daniel Son on the same song, it’s always a solid track. The others follow suit and give their best work and match the same killer and vicious aura as Estee and do justice to Grubby Pawz and his work!

Speaking of the man. With his first installation of work with Estee, he had a point to prove, and boy did he make it.

His production has a lot of variety involved, such as:

-Jazz

-Experimental

-Soft Rock

-Boom Bap

-Grime 

And not only does he mix these influences perfectly, but he makes them grand and heavy in feel and vibe. Each beat sounds cinema level of crisp and extravagant in nature. The kind of score you hear that runs through every part of you until you’re left with chills and it’s stuck in your mind days after hearing it, and as it happens with an Estee record, it’s something you’ll be addicted to for months and have the craving to listen to week after week and never get sick of it.

I also love the technique woven through this album and how well crafted they appear. Each second of the beat feels lively and unique. There’s no one song that sounds the same as the next or one before, and the way he blends different sounds is elite.

Using the song ‘WHITEGIRLSINROXBURY’, where it starts with that five seconds of smooth jazz only to be converted into a raw, tough beat. But the transition between the two was absolutely masterful and adds to his skill level as a producer! 

One again, if you’re counting, that’s a lot of albums with a W and no losses, and I don’t think I’ll ever find it. Shoutout to Grubby for his ridiculous work on this one!

https://open.spotify.com/album/5XFRNf3jeR4xVj76Z0r3jz?si=-TkTnZhaTWKFF8tZkDfEvg

(Minimansiondust Vol 4)

It’s time for now to jump to 2020 with the 4th volume of this incredible tape series. These volumes are very underrated in the underground, and the more I cover them, the more I’m able to see the impact and the influence these had on what the sound would be in the years to come.

So, this one, as has been the norm in the last 3 volumes, features Estee Nack and is produced mainly by Mr Rose, as well as 

-JuneLyfe 

-El Maryacho

And features the likes of 

-Crucial The Guillotine

-Al Divino

-Condenine

-Weapon ESP

-???

-C Wellz 

Right off the bat, I fucking love this production. As has been trademarked by Mr Rose, he tends to favour those smooth, soulful, and crisp loops/samples that feature immaculate production and sounds that are so masterfully executed that each part of your body feels the instrumentation. 

Unlike projects like the third volume, for example, where it felt like a more mixture of Grime and Harmonic.

This one just feels like a cinematically melodic vibe with traces of tough boom bap that’s sprinkled throughout the album, but I do feel the use of those luscious keys, long-lasting chords that create such a magnificent atmosphere that has a twisted ambient feel to it, like a darker equivalent of an ASMR Rap experience, and I fucking love it because it suits every name involved!

Speaking of the names involved. It’s exciting reviewing this one because it features my main man from 6th Man, Weapon ESP! To hear him in an Estee album is crazy, and he absolutely killed his verse.

As does every feature on this project; that’s the thing people don’t speak on enough: the level of quality Estee & Al bring out in their guests. They make it mandatory that if you’re going to appear on an album of theirs, you better come correct and spit properly, and none of that wake shit, otherwise, you can forget about it.

It’s this level of quality control that makes every release an anticipated one due to this factor, and of course, when speaking on the two men themselves, of course, they don’t miss.

Al with his savage and chaotic nature, and Estee with his infinite charisma, and when they both drop their original rap style and flow, then it’s a wrap; no one can contend with that, and they consistently prove why they don’t know how to take an L!

One again, another fire volume. It really is ridiculous their consistency and release schedule. Even Al in the current day is dropping projects after projects this year on his website! Two of the greatest, no doubt, with Mr Rose hitting it outta the park as well! 

https://open.spotify.com/album/27WjIys23nsjSH9Nnw6U34?si=4s81S8ZxRwSe70xWEsVFlg