I remember this dude Oba Rowland rapping ‘I’ve got diamonds in my Cardis, my girl looks like a Barbie’ from his song ‘Lifestyle’ from five or six years ago kind of before this current tidal wave of newer Detroit guys currently taking over. ShittyBoyz are doing some serious networking (is it just me or does Oba look like he could be their security?) and they’re linking up with him here to rap over some dope freestyle type production.
I actually didn’t even know what freestyle was or that it was a whole genre (I used to hear the word freestyle and think of like Reed Dollaz) but that Crimedawgbylaw post gives a really good description of it and how it’s seeping into the current Detroit sound. Also check out his mix of freestyle classics. I would have never went out of my way to listen to any of this stuff without his recommendation and now I’m loving it. This beat is sick, I think it’s at least loosely sampled from that Amber ‘This is Your Night’ song that goes ‘Da da da da, dit dot delay, dit da delay’? But I could be totally off on that because I have a terrible ear for that. Even if this isn’t a freestyle song per se I feel like it kind of fits into the same landscape production-wise. I would love to hear Rio da Yung OG and RMC Mike glide over a beat like this I feel like they would absolutely kill this.
I love Oba Rowland throwing up his hands at 0:53 during Stan Will’s voice like ‘Hey, I didnt’ say it’. Also on that part lmao @ the sheer unnecessariness of ‘Like a fat Japanese nigga you know I keep the chop.”
BabyTron is just so shameless and brazen with the scam talk! “Scammed the coach that’s really when the sports stopped.”
ShittyBoyz x Rio Da Yung OG x RMC Mike – Jackie Moon
Allow me to paint a picture of perfect serendipity here… you’ve been bumping Rio da Yung OG and RMC Mike all month… You see the holy trinity of Crimedawgbylaw, The Martorialist, Ray Garraty, all rocking with a new artist/group (in this case Shittyboyz)… you dip your toes in the water with ‘Spirit Bomb’ and ‘Simba’ and grow increasingly into what you’re hearing… and then… you see that Rio and Mike linked up with said new artist to collaborate together on a new joint.
(Side note, when you see a formidable triumvirate like Martorialist, Crimedawgbylaw, and Ray Garraty all talking about an artist, you almost feel like it would be foolish not to give them a listen. It would take a greater fool than I.)
It’s sometimes hard to live up to the expectations when you see a song combining two artists you’re feeling and all too often the collaboration falls flat but not the case at all here – this Jackie Moon song is hard as fuck. The beat is nice and sinister and serves as a great backdrop for these guys to trade bars over.
BabyTron acquits himself nicely here, keeping up with one of the best lyrical rappers in the game in Rio and not being outclassed at all. This kid has punchline after punchline in every song I’ve heard so far. I really liked the “That’s a jurassic kill, that means I turned him to a fossil. I’m in church banging this I’m like fuck some gospel” line and the “I’m in both conferences, went to Florida with my Rockets, feel like Jackie Moon I’m in Flint scoring like the Tropics” line. It’s hard to make something about the goofy Will Ferrell character from the forgettable (to put it kindly) Semi Pro movie sound cool but these guys basically just pulled off the impossible. Stan Will also represents himself well; “We on a different wave, Feds tried to hit me with the book we on a different page.” (I love the Avenged Sevenfold tshirt!)
Rio comes out swinging as always; “Flint niggas but we fucking with the ShittyBoyz, 4 Hellcats back to back we the kitty boys, you say you’re dropping who when you see who? You a silly boy. Fuck it I’ma scam a rich bitch I’m a city boy.” I’m not entirely clear on Mike’s ‘I don’t go to sleep when it rain I make rain sleep’ line but I don’t even care because it sounds badass and is exactly something wildly over the top that I’ve come to expect from Mike.
Rio and Mike look like they could be the ShittyBoyz’ muscle. What kid from their high school is going to fuck with them when they see RMC Mike posted up with them?
This run that Detroit/Flint rap is on right now is crazy; every time you think you’ve heard it all and think you might start to get bored someone completely new comes out of the woodwork and gets you excited about it all over again.
Rio continues to artfully hone his craft and further stakes his claim as one of the nicest in the game on his new release ‘2 Faced’, for example on ‘Ghetto Boy’. Free Peezy!
“I’m a Ghetto Boy baby, free Big P,
I’m quick to chase a nigga down I’ve got big feet,
The SK will turn a nigga’s engine block to swiss cheese,
these ain’t no Puma runners baby these some Big B’s”
Rio throws haymaker after haymaker on every verse. I need Rio and Cash Click Boog to link up and make a song (or a whole tape) where they just trade bar after bar of pure griminess back and forth.
Ever since Ray Garraty’s post about him a couple of weeks ago I’ve been bumping a ton of Rio Da Young OG. He goes to the same tried-and-true well of streets- and drug game- type subject matter and imagery as other rappers but he just puts such an over the top and almost fanciful spin on them with his boasts and brags that he makes it all his own. (i.e. “On my way to my other crib I just hit a deer, pistol in my hand while I’m rapping, shoot the engineer” from Crystal Clear or “I’m backwards, I’ll take the pint bottle and pour a Sprite in it, just stabbed a nigga in the club and broke my knife in him” here, or “My granny’ll still pop a nigga and she 89, I guess it’s in my jeans, you’ve got a 10 in your safe, that shit in my jeans” on Headache. Or how about “Just got a whole Hellcat wrapped in carbon fiber, niggas better chill before the carbon fire, killed 4 niggas in the whip and set the car on fire” with Peezy (!!!) on ‘Fire’.) I agree 100% with Ray when talks about how Rio’s ‘playfulness’ while sticking with the facts sets him apart and his comparison to Rio being like if MIKE started doing street rap based on his free-flowing, formless stream of consciousness song structure. He hits the nail on the head with his observation that “I think the last time somebody was playing with raw materials of the drug-selling business with such inventiveness was Gucci Mane in the mid-2010s.” This comparison is really apt; I think of even earlier Gucci Mane not just talking about how bright his diamonds are or reaching for an obvious, easy metaphor but talking about how they’re white like Santa Clause’s beard, or instead of just bragging about how much money he has, talking about how ‘white folks think he’s playing for the Falcons.’
“I woke up Friday morning mad, like ‘who I’m shooting?'”
“A nigga wanna ride this wave he need a huge boat. Heart cold, it’s 98 degrees I got on two coats, one day I was finna break down and cry, I was too broke.”
“I’m a grimey nigga, in a rental by myself I don’t ride with niggas. I’m really one of a kind, I ain’t lying nigga, Peezy came to Flint dug up some dirt and found a diamond in it.”
Yet another joint from ALLBLACK and his Play Runners cohorts that’s got me like…
The homie of impeccable taste Onmin Ernstig showed me this one and I’m feeling it. The hook from Capolow is so sick. I want to hear more from this guy, he almost sounds like a reggae singer here. Maybe one of my favorite hooks of the year. According to Onmin Ernstig this is produced by P-Lo of Same Squad fame, and he’s producing a whole ALLBLACK/Offset Jim collaboration EP, which I can definitely get behind.
Dare I ask if P-Lo one of ALLBLACK’s “Cambodian niggas that’s blacker than Barack Obama?” Just look at ALLBLACK and P-Lo strutting down the street together with the bikers @ 1:53. I’m not at all surprised that ALLBLACK is down with the BMXers I can see him moving comfortably in that crowd.
P.S. take notes on the sage advice from ALLBLACK at the beginning of the video.
Another great track off of Extras and I didn’t realize a video for Decent came out a few weeks ago. This three-syllable 2 or 3/.223’s/Jujubees/bookoo cheese/threw 2 keys/blew 2 G’s/blew through cheese rhyme scheme here and the way he deftly weaves through it is nuts.
“My life remind me of State Property I feel like I’m Beans.” YES! I can definitely get behind a Beanie Siegel homage in 2019.
I’m not a huge car guy (mainly because I’m broke) but I have to say that this Hellcat with the Hellcat logo is dope and truly befitting of a rapper with Cash Click Boog’s lyrical acumen.
“You’re eyes would glow like a full moon if you hit this shit. I don’t care about your block I’ll spin that bitch. Beefing since ’06, boy you just hopped in some shit.” Oh my God.
“I just made it to Florida, but I’m leaving here shortly.” No trip to Universal or Disney for Boog he’s all business.
After giving Cash Click Boog’s Extras probably upwards of 50 spins over the last month or so, I think Mayor is the hardest song on the tape, which is saying a lot because I can honestly say that every track on it is a legitimate banger. I’d go as far as to say it may be one of the hardest 1:30’s I’ve ever heard.
Boog just sounds absolutely ruthless on this…
“He dissed Tino in a song he can’t take that back, that means him or his mans gonna have to pay for that, niggas mention my name state the facts, stripped Reesie out his chain, shoulda breaked his hat.” Something about the ‘should have breaked his hat’ sounds so angry and vindictive I love it.
“Free HTL Willy, he a maniac. The block on fire, I’m the one that got blamed for that. Been a killer, niggas act like I can’t relapse. 10 times out of 10 if we came we strapped.” Been a killer, niggas act like I can’t relapse just sounds so evil.
“Out here you either a bum or a cheddar chaser, they say you froze with that cannon you a hesitater. Monte on his way home, go and tell the haters. He only got one more year, like 11th graders. The trap slap so hard, used to scare the neighbors, but there ain’t shit in that bitch just scales and razors, too much money to count, had to scale the paper, I’m the man in my city, I’ll tell the mayor.” Oh my God I feel like I need to go outside and take a break/cool down for a few minutes after I listen to this. Boog really is one of the best in the game right now.
Rockin’ Rolla x Chris On Tha Beat – Different Time
Been bumping a whole bunch of Rockin’ Rolla lately since his last couple of beastly collaborations with Cash Click Boog, dude has been on fire lately. Ray Garraty had also mentioned to me to check out his First Quarter mixtape with Chris On Tha Beat from earlier this year and it knocks. Just more pure brutality from Chris On Tha Beat, maybe the hardest producer out right now, and more great verses from Rolla.
“He a fake P, nigga he ain’t got the strap he tryn’a fake me. Nigga ain’t got the strap trying to catch my bluff, before I whip that bitch out and start waking him up”
Just wanted to take a moment to point out that trying to ‘fake out’ Rockin Rolla like you have a strap when you don’t seems like an absolutely terrible idea. This seems like an astoundingly low-upside, high-downside move. It’s probably a bad strategy in general, but particularly with Rockin’ Rolla of all people? Isn’t there an easier person out there you could try it with?
Rockin’ Rolla not taking any losses to fake P’s out here.
OH MY GOD CML is just absolutely knocking everything out of the park right now. This man can’t be stopped. Is there anyone more consistent right now?
I want to be invited to one of Lav’s pool parties. Is that an A-Wax sighting at 0:32? I guess they’re still down! I can’t decide if A-Wax would be a great guest to have at a pool party or a really bad guest; I feel like there’s a very wide range of potential outcomes there.
“I’m a big dog like a Great Dane, if you ain’t never caught a body Blood you can’t hang, run a nigga over like a freight train, all we do is set trip and gang bang.”
Lav crushes this hook, one of my favorites of the year “I’m real and you know that, I’m everywhere the dough at, Benz outside all black like Kodak, Big Bank Hank Cash Money I can show that, broke ass niggas’ pockets flatter than a doormat,” it’s that perfect but rarely-achieved balance of hard and catchy, and his troll-ish dance just makes it even better.
I believe this beat from D-Rok is the same D-Rock who did some of the beats for those great Juvie and Birdman songs from earlier this year so it looks like CML is getting the investment from Cash Money. If the rap game was like fantasy football and I was managing CML I would keep pushing this angle all day. This beat is wild with the flute and CML just floats over it like he’s swerving through the Everglades on a fanboat.
I usually hubmly consider myself one of the foremost purveyors of all things CML but I somehow missed this one at first, but thankfully my fellow connoseiur of all things Lavish D Onmi Erstig caught it and filled me in! It’s a tough call because there’s a lot of choices but I would officially add this in to my top 3 Lav songs of all time, along with the hard-to-argue-with classic Speak My Mind and the more recent slap Demons.
Cash Click Boog ft. Rockin Rolla – Southwest Gangin
Even more heat from Cash Click Boog, one of the nicest in the game right now. Boog and Rockin Rolla would have already had a contender for my favorite/most listened to song of the month with Tap Out but then they unleashed this slap which took top spot. I don’t know who did this beat but it’s nasty. Perfect type of production for Boog/Rolla, they absolutely float over this. “Paid the bouncer 200 just to get the rifle in, can’t leave without the strap that’s the life we live.”
“Instead of doing 9 to 5 buddy doing 5 to 10, I ain’t handing out no deal take this dime for ten.”
Boog’s shirt is fire; equally at home in the trap or at an art gala. I’m usually not a fan of these shoulder bags some of these rappers are rocking now but I’m not going to tell Boog that when you’re Boog you can rock whatever you want.
Rolla is stepping over the bodies of the lyrical myrical rappers, “I be coming off the head ’cause writing easy.” It would be hilarious to see him get into that lane and just put all those guys to shame. I love Rolla’s attitude “Where they count on me to lose, I’ma show they ass.”
That Oakland tattoo with the guy with the bandana and the bags of money is super intense.
“Rolla hit me on the phone what’s the deal with it, I done lost some but I deal with it, don’t be talking bout them murders we kill witness, all these Percs in my system I feel different, Southwest that’s west Oakland the real Richmond.”
Boog and Rolla have just been lining them up and knocking them down lately, maybe my new favorite tag team in the game. I finally checked out Rockin Rolla’s most recent solo tape and he’s got some joints on there too. We need a whole album of collabs from these guys at this point, with Chris On The Beat and whoever made this beat handling production.
Little Brother – The Feel
I’ve honestly never really gotten into these guys and admittedly I haven’t checked out much of their previous stuff that I can think of off the top of my head but I’ll be damned if this intro off of Little Brother’s unexpected comeback album May the Lord Watch isn’t some serious heat.
North Carolina is having a really nice year between the surprisingly good (to me!) Dreamville album, DaBaby planting his flag on the map and now this unexpected comeback from Little Brother.
I don’t know why but I love the ‘Raleigh…Durham… Chapel Hill’ of the intro right before the beat kicks in. This beat is so smooth and laid back.
My favorite part is the mental image the chorus conjures up of a turned-up Phonte about to go so hard at the bar or club just stomping onto the dancefloor one step at a time and warning his companions that they may literally need to reel him in because he can’t promise that he won’t get completely out of hand.
The rest of the album was also a very nice listen as well and I’m usually not a huge skits guy but even some of the skits weren’t bad. I agree with Ray Garraty that unfortunately a lot of new albums/music these daysis just made for the sake of being made and don’t really need to exist and just blend together into one big forgettable haze, but thankfully, unlike those I feel like May the Lord Watch is one that while not my usual style, stood out from the morass and needed to be made.
E-40 ft. Rexx Life Raj, Lil Boosie – Blossom
THIS is the type of song I want to hear for new music from a legend with three decades in the game. Rising up above the circumstances to not only grow but blossom in a hostile environment.
“They outed me doubted me didn’t want me to flourish, I come from the ghetto where we was famished, malnourished. When people first heard me they thought that I was a fluke, but I’m a real nigga like Kunta Kintae from Roots. I’ma keep running even without any shoes.”
“Broken towel racks and bullet tissue holders, used to keep the bacon fat up in a can of Folgers, and if the heater ain’t working and it’s freezing cold? We open up the oven and turn on the stove.”
I’m absolutely loving E-40’s verse it’s low-key one of my new favorites; Simultaneously inspiring, reminiscent and defiant. I love his tone and flow/cadence on it whether it’s the affectation on ‘keep running without any shoes’ or the way he raps ‘We open up the oven and turn on the stove’ like he’s answering a question. The Kunta Kinte line and the part about how he keeps running even without shoes is just too fucking real. I wish it was a little longer!
As soon as I saw that Practice Makes Paper was out and browsed the tracklist, this was the first song I jumped to as it seemed like the most interesting combination of features and it did not disappoint. (And I’ve got to hand it to 40, he did a really good job of putting together some interesting features on this album and some unexpected combinations of artists, i.e. Tee Grizzley and Rod Wave, or putting together an all-star team of Detroit hustlers with Payroll, Peezy and Sada Baby. Some people don’t like when an artist has too many features and guest appearances on his solo album but I for one love it; variety is the spice of life, and when done organically, it’s interesting to see who artists you like are listening to and who they respect). I like that he tapped Rexx Life Raj for the hook here and I look Raj’s take on it. Raj is great with these types of reminiscent more serious songs, i.e. his verse and hook on my song of the year for last year. The Boosie verse wasn’t one of his all-time highlights or anything like that but I’m never opposed to hearing some new Boosie.
As a side note, elsewhere on the album, I have to salute E-40 for his ‘I keep a stick like Moses’ line; at this point in time rappers have made so many references to staying strapped that it’s becoming increasingly difficult to find original ways of saying it but comparing yourself to Moses is definitely a new and inventive way to do it. And lastly let’s all take a step back to appreciate E-40l this guy has stayed strong in the game for over 30 years now and has done it his own way the whole time. It’s been a good year for 50+ year old West Coast rappers between E-40 and Suga Free.
Cash Click Boog & ChrisOnTheBeat ft. Rockin Rolla – Tap Out
Pretty much exactly what you want to hear from Boog over typically harsh ChrisOnTheBeat production that’s perfect for all these Bay/Detroit guys. I love Boog’s voice (pause! pause!), definitley one of the most unique in rap.
Boog is sounding like every old, grumpy suburban dad here when kids are playing outside near their car; “Tipped the valet at the door told him grab my whip, I’ll put my foot in your ass if you scratch my shit”.
Another hightlight is Boog bluntly telling the squares to get out of his way – “Nigga shut the fuck up if you ain’t making flips, on the plane with a roll I had to take a risk”
From what I gather from features etc. it seems like Rockin Rolla is one of Boog’s top right-hand men. I like his name Rockin Rolla it has me picturing a greaser from the 50s or an Elvis type instead of a rapper. But Rockin Rolla quickly puts that notion to bed because he comes out firing here – “Boog I’m tired of niggas saying all this hating shit, take a trip with 10 bags that’s a baby trip, I just bought a Draco with a baby Kick… Southwest we the army and the navy bitch.” I didn’t know much about Rockin Rolla when I first checked this out but after this and Southwest Gangin’ I’ve been bumping a bunch of his solo stuff and he definitely has some joints on there too he quickly becoming one of my new guys that I’m checking for every time I see they have a new video.
Cheers to ChrisOnTheBeat for putting his name as one of the artists now instead of just a producer credit in parentheses at the end of the title. I’m definitley a fan of this guys’ menacing production.
E-40 – Bet You Didn’t Know
People use phrases like spitting knowledge/dropping knowledge/dropping jewels or ‘putting us onto game’ pretty loosely these days when a rapper talks about any type of life advice or (usually) financial advice in a song i.e. someone like a Rick Ross talking about investing or stacking up for a rainy day etc. But E-40 takes it to a whole new level in ‘Bet You Didn’t Know’ because the ENTIRE SONG IS JUST E-40 DROPPING KNOWLEDGE.
After the first two points, I was kind of like ‘Alright, I see where this is going, it’s going to be a political/socially conscious song from E-40’ but then I did not see the third point coming at all ‘You can bring your own bottle of wine and pay the corkage fee in the restaurant. You can have your own wine locker and you don’t have to pay the corkage fee in the restaurant.’ Not what I was expecting but nonetheless helpful advice for those who don’t know. After that, E-40 really blindsides us by schooling us (in order) on some grammar, anatomy and the corporate structure of Volkswagen as the crowd behind him implores him to ‘Teach, teach, teach’ and encourages him to ‘Drop gems on them’ over and over again. From there, it’s a pretty wide-ranging cornucopia of topics, from the genuinely useful and insightful like helping your kids build their credit and quite a bit of health is wealth advice to less applicable in daily life such as ‘A maggot morphs into a fly, a caterpillar is a butterfly’. There’s quite a bit of animal talk (my favorite of which would have to be ‘A dolphin can beat a shark’) and religious musings. (By the way is it just me or does the ‘glass of wine a day keeps the heart attacks away’ sound like a credo you would see on like some wooden wall art from Walmart in a middle-aged woman’s kitchen? Then again based on the name of my site I guess who am I to judge).
The beat is actually fairly fire too. In short, 30 yeas into his career E-40 is still one of the most colorful and unpredictable characters in the rap game. Elsewhere on the album E-40 makes references to everything from Moses to Ashley Graham.
OMB Peezy – Big Homie
Hadn’t really listened to anything new from OMB Peezy in a while for whatever reason to be honest, and kind of out of nowhere, he unleashes probably my favorite song to date “I hope you niggas ain’t forget homie, young nigga still’ll kill a nigga’s big homie, word around town I ride around with a stick on me, and I’ll do a walk-through like Rich Homie.” That hook is just so fucking savage. Peezy just goes so hard over this Lil Baby/Gunna/Ghetto Guitar-esque beat and it works perfectly. On a side note I kind of slept on One Me when it first came out and Onmi Erstig and Ray Garratywere talking about it but I gave it another spin after how much I liked Big Homie and it really grew on me now I can’t stop playing it.
Little Brother – Work Through Me
Nice joint to end the Little Brother album. I’m primarily posting this because I have no choice but to be impressed by Phonte’s ability to rhyme ‘no cap bitch prove me wrong’ with ‘catfish courtbouillon’
Little Brother – Sittin Alone
People throw around the phrase ‘Grown man rap’ or pretty loosely but no one lives and breathes it more than Phonte, the utmost purveyor of grown man bars. “After 35 the club’s a different type of torment, pretend to be excited watchin’ bitches ditty bop, when you’d rather be at home watching Flip or Flop.” Damn I felt that Phonte, maybe a little too much.
PINK CHARDONNAY 