(Black Falcon)

*NEW ALBUM ALERT*

Not only is it a new album but a new artist discovery for me as I get to experience the wonder of ‘Azariah’, and with all the hype I see of him on social media, it got me hella excited, so let’s talk about it!

So, this latest record has 15 tracks and runs 35 minutes! The album is produced by Slidebeatz and features the likes of: 

-Jae Hussle

-Euphony Bars

-Cuts by DJ INF

-G Fam Black

-Serious Times

-M Doc Diego

Now, right off the bat, let’s talk about the production because it has this level of adventurous atmosphere and elements of: 

-Soul

-Soft Rock

-Traditional Hip Hop

-Experimental 

-Classical 

And unlike other albums where these inspirations are clear to point out and acknowledge in each track on this record, it just sounds all compiled into one big exploding soundscape that makes me feel like I’m walking through a beat forest, and the different combinations and daring fusions are like the wild animals in the forest coming at your ears, and you’re just left in awe and left deciding what to do next with the different creatures you’ve just run into!

It’s definitely a unique listening experience for sure, and I can’t say I can compare it to any other production I’ve heard this year, so shoutout to Slide!

Now, onto Azariah. The newcomer in my ever-growing collection of artists to discover. He has a very relaxed yet confident flow, and he finds a way to balance both very well!

He’s passionate, raw, and intelligent on the mic. His penmanship is definitely above average, and his flows are accurate, on point, and his bars are heavy home runs.

When paired with the various features, he stands his own and is equal with all of them! It’s good to hear that he doesn’t get washed on his album. Nothing worse than seeing shit like that.

Overall, a fantastic project, great pairing, and dope features! 

https://open.spotify.com/album/6AIiZoYH8MLV2A3PaOxEKQ?si=8BJk3YyiSAiTrxPPDPZM2A

(Lab Leak)

Man, as someone who I only discovered recently and considered it was a tape about koalas, it’s pleasing to me to know that he’s back with something even more creative! So let’s talk about it!

So this is the collaboration album between MC ‘Veteran Eye’ and Composer ‘Snoff The Maker’ AKA ‘MC-10

The latter is who I was talking about above, but regardless, this follows the journey of a cyborg MC as he discovers what’s left of a world in a post-apocalyptic age.

Not gonna lie, right off the bat, this gave me a real strong original X-Men original cartoon series season 2 plot of Bishop and his journey to save the world before the X-Men die. So already I love this thing. I’m sure it can give 100 listeners 100 different conceptual experiences and thoughts in their heads.

The production on this thing is very atmospheric, raw, deep, and heavy. Sounds like an 80’s Terminator soundtrack with its eerier, thriller-like sounds and samples used. It definitely suits the story being told. 

Throughout the play-through of the album, there’s never an awkward moment of stopping or an obvious cut-off part where you can hear one song changing to the next. It just all sounds like one big episode, and I absolutely love that about the album!

Onto the MC, he definitely does justice to the part played as the Cyborg. Honestly, if Bishop could rap, he would probably sound like this, no lie! Very detailed bars, articulate, crisp, raw, and smooth. No word is ever off-beat, and his flow and penmanship are skilled enough to maintain the imagination of this story being portrayed!

A lot of people don’t understand that when doing a conceptual album, the vocal performances and conviction of them are 70% of it. 

Because if the performance isn’t convincing, then neither will the story. So I’m happy to say he definitely hits the mark on his part and makes this one of the most intriguing and interesting listens of 2025!

Overall, a fantastic, creative, and unique album that I feel any and all hip-hop fans can get into! 

Shoutout to King Loepawl and Drew Shamir for their dope verses included! 

And Zipper & Teeth for the art! 

https://veteraneye.bandcamp.com/album/lab-leak

(ZING LANGUAGE)

You know, diving deep into the underground the last few years, it’s made me think of the era from 10-15 years ago. With your Illogics, Eyedeas, Slug, Ant, Aesop Rock, etc., and just how much you had to dig deep to find these artists to listen to and discover a whole different world of Hip-Hop than what the mainstream has shown.

But now, it feels like there’s been a paradigm shift because the level of attention and culture that you see with the underground today is staggering in the best way possible. With quality acts around every corner, you find from 

-Gold Chain Music

-Pen Lordz

-Umbrella Collective 

And now to add to an ever-growing list of artists who seem to be dropping nothing but hit after hit, we have ‘FEED THE FAMILY’ consisting of 

-Borirock

-Top Hooter

-Dun Dealy 

-Shaykh Hanif

And with Tremendiss on the production, this thing has ‘phenomenal’ writing all over it, and boy, what an experience it is.

Firstly, I want to appreciate the fact that they chose such a gorgeous opening track to start the record off with ‘UNTOUCHED BRICKS.’ They utilised this melodic Jazz loop that reminds me similarly to the opening track of Mach Hommy’s ‘Pray 4 Haiti’ album, ‘The 26th Letter.’ It’s smooth, infectious, and downright soothing to listen to, and the boys make a solid presentation on their verses as you can hear each man’s personality, character, and skillset on display.

From this, the album only gets more in-depth and passion-driven as Tremendiss offers these cinematic, soulful, and larger-than-life sample beats with vocal loops that bring a strong atmospheric vibe to the project, which amplifies the collective to go off and leave nothing on the table!

The main thing I love about the verses is the versatility and intensity on display. Each man sounds original and to their own. You can tell who’s rapping when, and it doesn’t sound like the same person 4x over, which I appreciate. Nothing worse than listening to a group and they may as well be the same guy repeated because they all average, unoriginal, and ass.

I don’t think this would be a stretch to say this could be some of the hardest 46 minutes you’ll hear in the game. From this, the members are going on to do great things! Whether you’re talking about Borisrocks’ recent album with Boneweso or Top Hooters’ latest joint with the legendary ‘MichaelAngelo’ on the beats.

FEED THE FAMILY are the present and the future, and I can’t wait to see them reach the top both collectively and individually! 

https://open.spotify.com/album/6qpzYvx6gZD0HkyroXkRga?si=uCRmOrI5SoGaCLo9J87Xlw

(Where Killers Go To Die)

New EP alert! And this time it’s by industrial horror metal band ‘Suicide Puppets’, so let’s get to it!

Features 5 new murderous tracks the band has been set on a mission to restructure the field of metal, and I’ll be damned if this album doesn’t do it!

From the opening title track, we have this infectiously brutal track featuring shredding melodic guitars and banging drums alongside those killer (pun intended) vocals that come together for one of the best intro tracks I’ve heard in a while! 

Then we have ‘Piggy’, which takes on a more haunting and dark twist with those gothic keyboard notes at the start, then we hear that chorus ‘Run little piggy run’, which sets the tone for the rest of the song. This song has thundering drums and heavier guitar than the first as it feels more of an ‘anthem’ vibe than the first with thrilling, sadistic in nature!

The third track ‘Nightmares’ feels like a turning point on the album with the first time the elements of ‘industrial’ come into play. With those opening electronic sequences that lead into a more breezy and almost ‘Devin Townsend’ Empath era vibes! Prog metal aura, infectious guitar with fast-paced drums with a subtle vocal harmony played in the background! Not to mention that tasty solo halfway through the song!

The semi-final song ‘Monsters’ features again creepy, dramatic horror keys to start the song off this time with some evil laughing and choir singing elements in the first phase of the track! Then we get some more smooth and technical guitar displays with rhythmic drum patterns that sync together so well and, of course (as is for every track), kick-ass vocal performances by the lead singer!

The final track ‘Devil You Don’t Know’ ends things on an in-your-face, no-nonsense thriller vibe that gives me light ‘Cradle of Filth’ vibes from the Thornography’ record. With larger-than-life production, heavy riffs, and drum patterns with a more Gothic Rock feel, the technique of the instrumentation and atmosphere of the song! Although maybe a tad bit softer than the other 4, the quality and presentation of the song is one that I feel perfectly fits the outro position!

I definitely recommend this EP to each and every metal fan, and I’ll be excited to see what comes next for these boys! 

https://open.spotify.com/album/30ZyonRKksthUpUcxHCvCg?si=o7VBANXVTwuTW7Ef85X89A

(The Michelin Man)

Another album that social media helped me bring attention to, and I’m so happy I decided to listen and investigate because this shit is DOPE! Let’s talk about it!

This is the new album by producer Cookin Soul and rapper ANKHLEJOHN. The features include: 

-Premo Rice

-Tony Shhnow

-Mike Shabb

On this album, the producer in question, ‘Cookin Soul’, has some of the most soulful and well-executed beats I’ve heard in a minute! From that choir-worthy intro track ‘Landlord Member’ that could easily be the opening song to some 90’s drama movie! Absolutely killer way to start the record off!

As the album continues, it only gets more larger-than-life and exquisite! With grand instrumentation, smooth melodies, and masterful technique and creativity in making such beautiful music for the culture. This is the kind of shit you could play before Sunday service, and based on the production alone, it would make Grandma happy before you all leave the house! 

ANKHLEJOHN, someone else I never heard of till now, but what an extraordinary rapper he is! He has such a unique voice on him, amazing passion, and energy that kind of gives me ‘Danny Brown’ vibes, which I love: high vibrations with dope lyricism, flow, and penmanship!

On every track he’s on, he sounds like an exciting fan who is living his dream, being able to rap on a high-profile album! I’m so used to hearing monotone and serious voices in the hip-hop scene, so to hear someone as full of life as he is, it just makes me so happy to hear!

This record is a treat and a half! The synchronicity of both people on here is perfect, and I hope we can hear more from both in the future! 

https://open.spotify.com/album/48y642MLccmLlQg6LD8AIE?si=9S55Ah4RRlisB8IMaHvMdw

(M33 B9)

Well, it looks like I get the opportunity to review an artist from Argentina! If I’m not mistaken, this is the first for me, so when I was sent the album, you know I was excited, so let’s get to it!

This is the 2025 EP by ‘Mr Johnson Beats’, featuring 10 tracks with a 12-minute length. 

Across this EP, you have some very interesting sonic pairings and sounds fused together to make for a record with lots of flavour and color!

I hear influences such as: 

-Soul

-Jazz

-Lo-Fi

-Ambient

-Hip Hop

And each track has its own unique blend of all these things to stand out from the rest! For example, the opening track ‘A1 Intro’ with those grand notes played that sound loud and ‘theatrical’ in nature on top of a rather skeletal beat. Granted, there’s a long pause towards the end I don’t understand, but besides that, dope beat!

Then you have cuts like ‘B2 Sin Plus’, which has a very melodic intro that sounds like a classical 1930s sound style that then evolved into a dope classic hip-hop instrumental! 

Or you can even look at the song ‘A3 Feedback’ with that distorted voice at the start, banging beat that sounds like someone is knocking at the door (actually, a few times I had to check my door to make sure it was the song) very realistic sound used. Regardless, this 1-minute song has a strong distorted Lo-Fi mixed with Boom Bap sound which I really dug!

My point being, every song has its own unique personality and characteristics that make each one stand out from the rest. The man himself also has great rapping on the tracks! Although I couldn’t understand 95% of the words, I liked his delivery, energy, passion, and flow on the songs. From what I understand, this EP was made to bring back memories of where he grew up, and in that respect, it does sound very ‘homelike’ in production and atmosphere.

All in all, for a 12-minute EP, I love this. It’s short, sweet, and impactful. It has culture attached to it, and the fact it was all done by one man is even more dope! Respect to the brother for this one! 

(Hooter Hyenas)

Going from an unknown artist to a most anticipated album release based on one single has to be the fastest I’ve jumped on a rapper bandwagon in recent memory, but the album is finally here, so let’s talk about it!

This is the latest studio member by ‘Feed The Family’ member TOP HOOTER, and the production is handled by legendary producer MichaelAngelo, who has already worked on one of my favourite records this year with CRIMEAPPLE and Primo Profit with ‘ESCAMA’, but he’s back to capture lightning in the bottle twice!

Across this project, you have a list of who’s who including

-OT The Real

-Borirock

-Estee Nack

-Mickey Diamond

-Shaykh Hanif 

On top of the other ‘FEED THE FAMILY’ members, you have easily some of the greatest underground rappers ever, so you can already tell this one is going to be D.O.P.E.

Starting with MichaelAngelo, once again, he’s bringing his Masterclass of technique, samples, vibe, and creativity!

He’s the kind of artist who understands what sound suits which rapper and how to utilise the sounds accordingly!

On this project, he’s bringing beats that are raw, crisp, atmospheric, cold, and even theatrical at times with the use of ‘larger than life’ instrumentation on certain songs.

Like the track ‘No Crowns’, featuring the combination of that subtle vocal loop and those folk-inspired strings on repeat with that violin synth sound to give it that cinematic vibe!

Or the track ‘Look For The Crook’, with that ambient, drone sound with that crowd/gang mentality in the background as if there’s 100 people standing in the studio during this track. Reminds me of the early Wu Tang Clan would do. Of course, to have Estee Nack be on this one makes so much sense due to his ruthless, cold-hearted nature!

My point being, Michael makes sure each track is perfectly balanced and crafted for the person. He’s one of the best going, and it’s no mistake that he’s made two ‘album of the year contenders’ already. 

Now, onto the newcomer (for me anyway) TOP HOOTER. The man who’s been making waves across my social media and now after listening to that single and this album I see why. His confident style is infectious.

He has pinpoint accuracy with this flow, wordplay, and penmanship. No matter who he’s on the track with, he maintains his status and reminds us all that he’s the man on this project.

A lot of times you can hear a feature track where the album rapper gets cold feet compared to the one he’s on the song with and gets washed up.

But on this record, he’s always solid. Sound and collected, raw, crisp, and never wavered! A solid MC.

I absolutely loved this record! Whether you’re talking about the immaculate production or the quality features or the terrific performance by Top, this album has everything going forward, and I just know it will be on everyone’s tongue in 2025, including the serpent tongue! 

https://open.spotify.com/album/2mk4kXQpsrAaYoje7jKqp9?si=06AkyJ3hTfmIeSTJT_S7KQ

(Genie In The Bottle)

Well, this is something I wasn’t expecting. A metal band loosely covering the ‘Christina Aguilera’ song ‘Genie In A Bottle’ from 1999.

From those opening piano keys, the band ‘Amerakin Overdose’ starts the song off with an industrial metal vibe sound with that mix of metal and electronic elements. Especially that auto-tune note played at the very beginning.

I do love how they have pretty much kept the sonic concept alive of the original just using metal elements. You can obviously still hear the song’s rhythm and identity if it were a clear cover. This is also more melodic than I expected it to be for a metal version! 

Most metal covers I’ve heard, such as ‘Cradle Of Filth’s Hallowed Theme’ or ‘Children Of Bodom’s Hit Me One More Time,’ cover it’s all about the heaviness and less about the melodic elements, but here they do both, which I honestly respect!

And of course, there are some lyrical alterations, such as ‘You Have To Rock Me The Right Way’ instead of ‘Rub Me The Right Way,’ among other small parts, but still overall, as far as covers go, this band I feel nailed the metal/pop fusion and made a fresh original take while keeping the classic alive and well! 

Definitely check this one out! 

https://open.spotify.com/album/3V2ieFNOWzy2qa2IyD9BrW?si=VI08tbDYROunTw22org8Dw

(The Outcome)

This has been quite a year already for Black Soprano Family with some quality drops from their roster, and now it’s time for the label’s magnum opus! Let’s get into it.

This massive album is 14 tracks with 45 minutes in length, all beats produced by Ill Tone Beats and executively produced by El Camino, and features some of the heavyweight of the culture such as:

-WestSide Gunn

-Conway The Machine

-Rome Streetz

-Jae Skeese

-Benny The Butcher

-El Camino

-AZ

-Ghostface Killah

-Flee Lord 

-Gully

-Player K

-Smoke DZA

-Chase Fetti

-The Black Abstract

-Stove God Cooks

-OT The Real

As I said, a MASSIVE album, and this release feels like Benny’s version of a ‘Hitler’s Wears Hermes’ drop. With dope features, dope production, and dope execution of the roster provided.

Starting with the production, Ill Tone brings his best on this one, utilising and understanding how to create the best beats depending on who’s on what track and uses his masterful techniques to create an album that’s not only banging but cohesive and structurally perfect.

The various sounds across this thing are: 

-Grime

-Boom Bap

-Soul

-RnB

-Jazz

-East Coast 90’s Era.

Each track is crisp, raw, smooth, and deviant for all the right reasons! In some tracks, you get that beautifully hypnotic vocal loop beat, and in some, the hardcore in your face Boom Bap that will slap your face right off! Depending on the feature, the atmosphere will change accordingly! 

As you’d expected there’s no bad feature! All these legends are on their best game. I was a tad bit disappointed that Ghostface was only on an interlude on an actual verse but it’s still dope to hear his voice on the project!

I love Smoke DZA’s verse and that gorgeous Jazz track he was rapping on!!

Seeing the likes of AZ and Rome Streetz was a pleasant surprise and the usual roster of artists from Griselda to Jae Skeese all leave nothing on the table and deliver memorable verses!

Overall, a dope compilation album by BSF. Larger than life and perfectly composed. Go check this one out! 

https://open.spotify.com/album/1AzkpCmGSHSPknAqf5Jv9L?si=i_2ITLolS5GfRGbQ6FLdLQ

(Hymns In Dissonance)

After 4 years since their last studio album. The Deathcore legends who have spent the better part of almost 20 years building their infamous legacy, this time around they aren’t fucking around! They’re back with a vengeance!

This latest project has 10 tracks running at 43 minutes in length! Right from the very opening track ‘Prisoner666’, we get this unforgettable and purely savage 5-minute performance by the band that sets the atmosphere for what it’s to come! 

Those haunting opening guitar notes in those first 40 seconds until it escalates into this riveting anthem with brutal drum patterns, heavy guitar, and Phil giving some of his best vocals I’ve heard in years!

From there, the album only gets heavier and better with the next track ‘Hymns In Dissonance’, which features one of the most sickening death growls I can remember hearing from the band or any other! Combined with  the fast-paced fury of instrumentation, this track throws all ‘concept’ out the window and just goes for the kill in this thrashing thriller of a song!

Across these 10 songs, there are moments where the band tries for a more ‘theatrical’ approach with certain sounds, melodies, and chords. Such an example is the third track ‘Diabolic Slumber’, with its cinematic opening sequence that then ties into a more methodical stride before it evolves into the animalistic deathcore entry we all know and love from the band in the past! 

Although this band is known for their distinctly ‘heavy’ sounds, I feel this album pushes that boundary even further, showing how far you can take things. Also, considering since their last album, they’ve brought on ‘Brandon Zackey’ on the drums, who at his earliest was touring with the band in 2022, and ‘Kin’ came out in 2021. 

So maybe he’s the perfect piece of the puzzle to this album’s ‘Magic’, so to speak, but regardless, 

If you’re a seasoned Whitechapel fan, this will be the long-awaited album you’ve been waiting for! If you’re a new fan and just a metalhead in general, I feel this will please and surprise any type of fan of the genre! 

I’d definitely recommend giving this one a try! Absolutely unreal! 

https://open.spotify.com/album/7lnkxd7w0YcE18CZ6COEJj?si=5UMh8QY3TRO_Oe34RCs8_w