hip hop

Has its moments of genius and inspiration, but also flounders and loses its way in other less inspired moments. As a whole, the record is an ethereal and dreamy approach to hip hop, without entering the “stoned” or zoned-out realm too much. Production is nice, but nothing super special.

Was runnign through some MF DOOM shit and was surprised to find that I hadn’t written about this one yet. I think, as with a lot of people, Madvillainy was my introduction to both Madlib and MF DOOM, and I instantly fell in love with this thing. Honestly, the production on this record makes me feel like I’m stoned without even touching the green stuff. There are so many highlights, that it would be trite…

In the past Necro has mixed metal with rap and it has been uhhh, not so great. For some reason, on Death Rap, this combination seems to work rather well. There’s some respectable names cropping here. That said, I massively prefer the more straight up “hip hop” orientated tracks; the sound just lends itself to the depravity of Necro’s rhymes so much better than some random metal riffs. All in all, Death Rap is a…

This later solo effort from J (in the ICP timeline) seems to be held in fairly high regard amongst the juggalos but honestly I’m struggling to see what all the fuss is about. It’s well produced, and fun, but nothing really stands out, much like the later “second deck” jokers cards. A good effort and some great guest spots but it’s never gonna be spun again over the classic ICP stuff.

You can’t argue that ICP doesn’t put the effort in. If you’re a fan of their ongoing saga then truly you must be quid’s in (as us Brits say) because they don’t half give you enough to keep you going! Yum Yum’s Lure is an EP that is longer than most metal band’s albums, full of tracks prefacing the coming of the first female Joker’s Card, Yum Yum Bedlam. The trouble is, despite having its…

Stronger than most albums in this “era” of his career but goddamn this thing is longer than War & Peace. Despite this, it definitely feels like Esham got back on track here, with the spirit of the wicked shit coursing through this long set of songs. There’s a bite to proceedings, an edge to the lyrics, and an extra stomp to the beat.

Purgatory would be a decent later-career Esham offering, if it was not for the dreeeeeaaaaadful metal tracks pulling this thing down. Honestly, they truly, completely, totally, suck ass. Otherwise, this thing is pretty good. Some interesting ideas and vibes. Lead single “Bro” was an interesting choice, as it’s easily one of the weaker tracks on the album. The majority of the “Circle Of…” tracks having interesting concepts (unless they are metal tracks lol). But yeah….

Crikey, before I can even think about getting around to review Purgatory (I’m slow, I know), Esham The Unholy drops another slice of wicked shit for us. The man is clearly on a roll, between the recent solo drops as well as the 3HM records that came out recently. I’m glad to see him back on the game! You probably shouldn’t expect the world from the man this far into his career, but this is…

ICP are another one of those bands where the “side” releases are just as good – or in this case – better than the main studio albums. It’s easy to overlook these so-called “sideshow” releases, especially with the focus on the whole Joker’s Card saga. Flip The Rat is the accompanying EP (at nearly an hour long lol) to the Fearless Fred Fury era, and is a refreshing beacon of decent fucking music in the…

Well, if you thought the “Lost” version of Missing Link was poor, then boy are you in for a treat here. By far the worst ICP full length since The Tempest, “Found” is a listless, mind-numbingly bland set of songs that offer next to nothing to the ongoing Dark Carnival ethos. It feels like an album for an album’s sake, and no amount of modern production is going to change that. Honestly, you could probably…

It felt like the first of the two Missing Link albums was off to a strong start, with tracks like “Shock” or “Apocalypse” (the latter being the very definition of a deep cut!), but unfortunately it quickly falls to the wayside with what seems like consistently rehashed content. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not expecting ICP to go off on a whole other thing this far into their career but stuff like “Confederate Flag” (“Rebel…

Seemingly pointless reworking of the original (pirate material lol!) classic. Don’t get me wrong, it’s lovely, but I’m not sure what purpose it serves. Does it need to serve a purpose? Dunno. I’m not going to get philosophical about it. It would be really cool to get more tracks from the first album reimagined like this, but on its own its ability to impress is limited.

I was surprised by how good some of the songs were on The Mighty Death Pop. Don’t get me wrong here, there’s a lot of shit floating around on this here disc, but damn I cannot deny that the title track or “The Blasta” or “Bazooka Joey” are fucking excellent. I also can’t speak for the bonus discs including the covers disc because that shit is just too awful for me to sit through, but…

“Leck Mich Im Arsch” is a mess, I’ll be honest. Nothing about it works, at all. The musical styles are a complete mismatch, and ICP’s lyrics are probably the best thing about it all. “Mountain Girl” on the flipside is appalling, a second-rate continuation of the same-old same-old shit you got on “Redneck Ho” and “Chicken Huntin’”. Aside from the novelty that this was produced by Jack White (like…what? lmao), this is mid ICP at…

I checked this album out due to pure morbid curiosity rather than anything else, and I’ve got to say, it’s not as bad as it’s made out to be. Is it the kind of hip hop that I like to listen to? Absolutely not. The production is hideous, IMO. Well crafted, but hideous. That being said, I’m more impressed by 69’s verses than I ever expected to be, and some of the guest spots (including…

It is truly difficult for me to comprehend how much of a failure Compton was. I mean, I’m not alone in this line of thinking but it is not a universally held opinion. In fact, I should instead be writing about my surprise at how well this record has been received over the years. With both The Chronic and Chronic 2001 being up there in my favourite rap albums of all time, upon release I…

A1 Yola starts strong, but I lose my way as the record goes on, which is a recurring theme with Esham records of this era. That being said, I feel like Esham is more confident on this record than his previous two, the whole vibe seems different and whilst the production is firmly in “later” territory, some of the songs are fucking great. We also get some dirty synths, bass lines and beats bubbling up…

Everything about this thing is basically a laundry list of what I look for in hip hop. Something however, is just not fully landing with me. It might be the length (oo er), or the general pace of the tracks being a real “creep slow” agenda – which is fine, but for every song on a 70+ minute album, well it can be a bit much. Anyway, this shit fucking rules, that aside. The production…

Despite having well and truly checked out of the Dark Carnival / ICP world by the time this dropped, upon returning for a re-listen I am surprised by how entertaining this actually is. Let’s get the brass tacks in place: this (and any of the other cards in the second deck) are never gonna be as good as anything in the first deck. ICP made a conscious decision, Mike E Clark or no, to go…

It’s cool to look right back to independent Em before he blew up, before he was Dre’s bitch and was before he was playing in every suburban white kid’s home in the western world. Infinite, as oddly-titled as it may be, is a slice of mysery of the daily life of a poor white guy in Detroit. Even with the Bass bros onboard even at this early stage, and with Proof (RIP) and Denaun helping…

Gotta love the mix of smoooooooth gangsta rap compositions and sick as fuck horrorcore lyrics. Brother Lynch was truly a pioneer of the horrorcore style, at least in the dark and disgusting lyrical content. Content varies from the usual gangsta fare but dialled up to 11, through to mad shit like cannibalism, which feels like it comes waaay out of left-field with the gangsta rap beats that are carrying this thing. So bizarre! Esham might…

Due to the period of time in which this came out I probably look at it with rose-tinted glasses. I LOVED this things when I was a teenager, to the point where I got it tattooed (under age, I might add) – just another one of a long line of silly decisions that I’ve made over the last 30+ years. If I am being honest with myself though, The Wraith is not as good as…

Repentance comes on initially like a Tongues Part 2, but repeat listens indicate a slight maturing in this style of songwriting, as well as in the production style. Pretty sure Esham was on Psychopathic at this time, so the production fits right in with other records from their roster released during this time. Also, there’s some great features here from ICP, Twiztid, TNT (from Natas) and Bone Thugs.

FF4 was the first (and last) FF CD that I ever bought in person. My version came with, if I recall, a scented Hallowicked CD, which I’ll review separately (there are a few remixes / featuring tracks that are seemingly unique to this version of Hallowicked however). I remember thinking that Forgotten Freshness Vol. 4 was straight bullshit at the time. I had already heard tracks on Shaggy’s solo album, or on the Wraith remix…

Immortal Tech is second to none if you are into that conscious / political flow. There’s even a few zingers in here where Tech drops the seriousness and just has fun (imagine that!) such as the excellent and entertaining “Obnoxious”. Vol. 2 however is a step down from Vol. 1 in regards to the production, which is beefier but the sounds on display are not as hard hitting or aggressive, which I find does the…

Solid album with confident, clever flows from Action Bronson. I gotta be in the mood for this guy but it really scratches the itch when nothing else can. There are certainly more “independent” sounding releases in Bronson’s catalogue, not that Well Done sounds particularily generic, but it does have a very, how can I say, “New York” sound. Easy comparisons can be made to Ghostface Killa or even MF DOOM what with all the food…

For the last twenty years I have dismissed this album as being not worth my time, but on a recent hip hop binge I revisited it once more and well, to be honest, I don’t know what the fuck was wrong me. I think, if anything, I’ve just not really paid proper attention to the rhymes. On top of that, the production is not as hard-hitting as their debut, which was really cold and unique….

This shit slaps. It was slap even harder however, if Busdriver spent less time trying to sound clever and more time on constructing worthwhile, long-lasting songs. Instead we get a blurry, top-speed barrage of flows that are all loosely held together. Which is fine, because it’s impressive as fuck, but mans right here is basically the rap equivelent of Dream Theatre or some such music wankery. The production is great and the songs are great…

Attack Of The Weirdos got that perfect hardcore 90s production and feel to it, coupled with Bizarre mad rhymes (which are here in their infancy but still great) and some amazing guest spots and you’ve got a winner of an EP. This isn’t gonna win any awards or smash any records but all in all it’s a solid debut EP with some hilarious tunes on it.

The tracks on this one should have been left on the chopping room floor. Forgotten Staleness Vol 3 sounds like 80% outtakes from The Amazing Jeckel Brothers (an album which draaaagged anyway) and 20% featuring cuts that are worth checking out for the novelty. The album’s high point is the Mix-a-lot remix / cover song “Posse On Vernor”, which is by far the best song. The Eminem diss is pretty funny, but is also pretty…

For when you run out of old school wicked shit acid rap era Esham to listen to, there’s always a gang of fuckin’ Natas records for you to fall back on. Multikillionaire is not a far cry from a regular Esham record, with The Bogeyman on production duty (and we all love Esham’s production, right?), and taking up a good 40/50% of the verses here too. TNT is on point too, the only thing really…

Not gonna lie, I usually enjoy the wicked, disgusting end of horrorcore more when it has less of a polished sound and more of a janky, fucked up production. Snuff Porn Gore, as uninspiring a title as that is, is a nice exception. This is THE Billy Big Bollocks of the horrorcore world, especially in the circles of MC Bushpig and the extended cast of the Harem / Suicide Rap Orgy. It’s extra layers of…

Well, this is an interesting listen, even for those who may be already versed in the world of MC Bushpig or the Suicide Rap Orgy. Weird, angular, and downright obstructive beats and backing tracks are the order of the day, and the vocals are more amateurish than the other releases, especially from MC Mule, but it’s quick to adjust to the vibe and roll with. Tape 1 is worth listening to for the production alone,…

Sick, deep fried, southern rap with insane, chunky production drenched in tape hiss and dank samples, all laid underneath a variety of MCs spitting all sorts of nasty shit. I guess on first impressions it was like a Memphis version of the Wu Tang Clan’s first album, but that would be a fairly cheap comparison. If you’re into the darker side of hip hop this is a gem shining in the darkness.

Solid as fuck debut from one of the best MCs on the planet. I don’t know why but Del never really reached superstardom, because this guy has such a strong flow and such great charisma. The subject matter is a bit clumsy in places on this debut, but the production is fantastic (if not a product of its time, in all fairness). Highlights have gotta be “Pissin’ On Your Steps” and “Sleepin’ On My Couch”.

Wasn’t the biggest fan of the second disc so figured I’d come back and talk about the first disc because it’s also listed as a separate entry. This is a good thing, for sure. The tracks on disc one are much better – all that old school Detroit smog shit. I know I use that “Detroit smog” descriptor a lot when talking about ICP but its the best way for me to describe that style…

Mans got a way with the drum machine, I’ll give him that. And the flows are really cool. Like, proper old school 80s hip hop sound. Despite this the mix sounds kinda hollow and devoid of bass, with the focus instead directly onto the beats (“Mall Dropper” slaps though). This works in many ways but also leaves the “stage” really sparse and empty in between verses sometimes, which gives the record an odd, unfinished feel….

Tunnel Of Love is silly as fuck but hey, it’s ICP we are talking about here. Considering songs like “Lil Somethin’ Somethin’” from the same kind of era aren’t very good, so facing a whole EP of “love” (read: fucking) tracks, on paper at least, didn’t seem like the best idea. Tunnel Of Love is a quality slice of wicked shit however, from the world famous (lol) opening track, the hilarious “Super Balls”, to deeper…

I listened the ever-living fuck out of this album when I was a teenager. The Wraith and Great Milenko were my introduction to ICP, and whilst I worked backwards and preferred the older Joker Cards, Great Milenko will always hold a special place with me for reigniting my interest in the band. I can remember it now, as clear as day, my girlfriend sent me an .mp3 of “Halls Of Illusions” via MSN Messenger and…

Another massively “meh” release from the Tempest era, which is unsurprising, all things considered. I would have to say in the case of Eye Of The Storm, it is the over-reliance on a rock/metal production to the tracks, which I’ve never really thought ICP is any good at. The production is pretty good though, so it gets middle marks. I cannot think of a single reason to pick this up and ever listen to it…

Falls a bit flat in isolation, with the usual fare from Necro against a fairly mid beat. Not bad by any stretch of the imagination, just fails to really capture any feeling, be that disgust, awe or anything in between.

Short, sweet but mostly pointless solo EP from Shaggy 2 Dope. I say pointless because J is on these tracks too and the whole thing is produced by Mike E Clark, so you might as well as slapped a fuckin ICP logo on this thing and be done with it. In fact, track 4 “Three Rings” ends up on Riddle Box anyways (with slightly different lyrics). I’m not complaining though, whatever name it’s under this…

A shining example of fantastic modern hip hop. Four albums deep and I’m starting to crave a little bit more variety from RTJ’s sound but you can’t argue with those insane beats (seriously, so so good and with pristine production) and excellent flows. A confident effort from a band that know they are at the top of their game.

Free from the Joker’s Card legacy, ICP was rudderless and without direction. Let’s just be honest; that’s how it was. Or, at least, that’s how it seemed at the time. I loved both Wraith albums as a teenager. I thought both of them were fantastic for completely different reasons. But when The Calm dropped, I was bored to tears. And then, The Tempest came a few years later and I could not have been more…

Like most early Wu Tang solo efforts, Ironman is more like an extension of the 36 Chambers early 90s freshness, with a ton of the MCs from the main release showing up here like they do across a gamut of different releases. Like, Raekwon and fucking Cappadonna appear on almost every single track as well as the cover art haha – Throw in that trademark RZA production and you’re onto a winner, of course. Essential…

This doesn’t sound anywhere near as bad as you’d think it would. To be honest, calling this an ICP release is really a stretch. I understand why it gets labelled as such, with the ICP gang existing a good while before ICP the musical project, but in J’s book he seems to make it out like this “Intelligence & Violence” project with D-Lyrical was something else entirely that pre-dated ICP. I guess he could be…

Die Antwoord has always been a guilty pleasure. Their legacy perhaps hasn’t aged that well, but when I first heard SOS (it was “Enter The Ninja” playing over the stereo in a bar in Amsterdam) I had never heard anything quite like it. The rapping is objectively terrible but it’s also very entertaining, the production is great and well, I fell in love with Yolandi Visser for a short while in 2010. Just being real…

Judging by the cover art this is a cheap cash-in “best of” that was supposed to collate some of ICP’s older stuff in one place for people new to the band with The Great Milenko. But don’t let the crappy cover art fool you. This is a great mix of old shit. A lot of the songs are cut down too, giving this record the vibe of an extended live set. I’m usually a guy…

Interesting mix of styles that should be absolutely mind blowing but unfortunately falls a bit flat due to the production / instrument mix. Expect conscious rhymes over a variety of dirging, droning, apocalyptic soundscapes. On paper, this is far ahead of its time, but just misses the mark, sadly.

Part a typical Hyperdub conscious electronic music masterpiece, partly a garage / hiphop work of art. Love the dichotomy between the two styles, which can often go hand in hand but seem to work as separate elements here rather than harmonizing together in unison. And that’s OK, honestly. Also, as an aside, and I think this is true of many Hyperdub releases in general, this works so much better when being listened to at 3am!

You can always rely on Foreign Beggars for bringing some of the best grime flows against a backdrop of dubstep-inspired beats. Two solid tracks back to back on this thing. Tidy.

This one should have stayed at the idea stage. Quite probably one of the silliest things I’ve ever heard. I’m sure many juggalos dig it but I have absolutely nothing positive to say about this collaboration from an objective musical review perspective so I’ll just leave it at that lmao

I remember when The Calm first came out. After the double barrel of both Wraith albums, and what seemed to be the wrapping up of the whole Joker Card saga, The Calm seemed directionless. It was for the same reason that I disliked Bizzar and Bizaar; ICP without the dark carnival mythos was just hollow for me. Granted, I’m not a teenager anymore so in my 30s I can return to this EP and enjoy…

I’m not gonna lie to you, this shit is well outside of my wheelhouse. I only know Flowdan from his tracks with The Bug but damn his delivery is infectious, even though I’m not the biggest fan of grime (perhaps I’ve just not heard the right stuff). Either way, Serious Business is a solid 4 track EP and a great way to get into Flowdan’s solo stuff. “Ambush” and “Fuck About” are my favourite tracks…

Better than the old shit, with the production being the highlight of the record (not sure if all of it is by Devereaux (sp?) but it’s really good work). But yeah, Ouija Macc clearly isn’t for me and to be completely honest this record is an embodiment of absolutely everything that I hate about rap, so I’m in no position to really objectively review this. It’s awful in my eyes, that’s all I can really…

Checked out Ouijja Macc after the 3 Headed Monster albums with Violent J and Esham. It’s cool as fuck they brought him in and it did take me a while to warm to his voice but I really got into it by the time I was done with the first 3HM album. Unfortunately, I decided to start at the beginning and the title of this record says it all. I’m not just gonna sit here…

This sounds almost identical to the previous 3HM album, to the point where I’m not even sure if it was from the exact same studio session. Some proper Load and ReLoad ass shit going down here. Like its predecessor, Obliteration, Rampage is firing on all cylinders about 60% of the time, with the rest being pointless, repetitive filler. There’s a moment or two where Ouija Macc gets given the space to shine but for the…

Heard about this collab on some recent interviews with Violent J but with everything Psychopathic you gotta go in with tempered expectations because it could very easily be a complete bag of shit. Thankfully, the first 3HM record has more bangers than stinkers, but still boasts a cache of frankly pointless tunes to bloat out its runtime, which, honestly, doesn’t outstay its welcome for once. The concept is great, the production is fantastic, and (I…

I guess if you’re gonna listen to horrorcore you might as go for the sickest, most depraved shit you can find. That being said, this stuff is so far down the rabbit hole / iceberg chart that it may be a bit too much for some people. You can trust anything labelled with Suicide Rap Orgy, Butcher’s Harem or MC Bushpig to have the seal of absolute depravity and sickness. Honestly, this shit is absurd….

ABK often gets it in the neck for being a shining example of the shit that Psychopathic used to sign in the 00s. Personally, I think Boondox is infinitely shittier, but that’s another story for another time. It is true, some – if not most – of the tracks where ABK stands solo on this thing are just absolutely appalling. However there are collabs that prop up other tracks, and the backbone of ICP and…

Hell’s Pit is one of my favourite ICP releases (a rare album which doesn’t fall off into silliness) so I was stoked as all manner of fuck to hear these 9 tracks from those sessions that didn’t make the album. In some cases it’s obvious why the songs didn’t make the cut (and I’m glad all of these samples of twisted TV preachers didn’t make the record either, it gets a bit samey). There are…

I’ve never been the biggest fan of Kendrick Lamar but in the interest of returning to albums I last listened to a very long time ago, a review of Good Kid m.A.A.D. City was waaay overdue. I can commend the excellent writing and delivery, and the streaks of sampling that run in between the tracks offering a wider narrative that gives the whole experience much more depth. Production-wise, this shit is also on point, which…

Suffers the same fate as its brother/sister album, in that it cannot escape the mixed bag effect of “leftovers-from-Jeckel-Brothers-itis’. There are, as always, some high points, but when the peaks drop into the troughs, there are some serious low points for sure. Production is great, as the Esham cover / reworking of “Cherry Pie”, but I could really give or take this entire era of the band’s history.

Some really sick beats on display here, but it is debatable whether G Rap and Necro work together all that well. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not awful, but it doesn’t feel so much here like these two worked together, more than that someone took verses from both of them and slapped them both into the same songs. On the surface it works pretty well but if you wanna go deeper then you can’t.

Even as a huge ICP fan in the 2000s I always overlooked Bizzar and Bizaar. For one, the covers looked awful, and they sat outside of the joker’s card series, so I didn’t really see the point in them. They kinda flew under the radar. People hyped the Jeckel Brothers. People hyped the Wraith albums. Nobody gave a shit about these “bizarre” albums, at least not in my experience. I don’t know if I’m carrying…

Over the course of albums from Boomin’ all the way to Mail Dominance you can trace a slow but deliberate change in Esham’s music. Each album along the way is another iteration of what could be considered a classic Esham sound, but each era had its own distinct vibe and production. Tongues is a mixed bag in comparison, both in terms of quality as well as regards to production and musical structure. Not only do…

The beats are fantastic, the rhymes are really clever, and as I’ve stated on other YS releases the effort involved in pulling this off is massively commendable. Unfortunately, Sheogorath’s Zoom outstays its welcome very quickly, and I’ve never been able to make it to the end.

I have endless respect for the sheer effort involved in pulling this off, and the rhymes that have been written for the Juib character are outstanding. Unfortunately, objectively, the musical execution of it all is pretty poor (only so much chopped audio vocals you can listen to before your head starts to hurt).

Not sure if this was supposed to be some sort of off-cuts compilation or a best-of? Either way it kinda fails at being both, and I 100% recognise tracks off Esham records but not so much some of the others here? Fuckin’ bizarre. Anyways, this is some good old school acid rap shit from the king of the genre. There’s just no need to come here until you’ve been to all the other albums first…

Great, super entertaining old school west coast gangsta rap for the whole family to enjoy. Drugs, bitches and getting dat paper more or less totally envelopes the entire subject matter. but that’s OK. Expect smoooooooth but aged-tae-fuck gangsta rap synthesizers and boom bap beats (the beats have aged quite well, those synthesizer lines maybe not so much).

Wanted to rate this higher because I haven’t listened to Bizarre for years and years and this fucker was supposed to be some sort of super serious return to form. “Uzi” and “Hecker” out the gate makes you think shit, they might be right about that. Unfortunately, an hour of this shit and the shine wears off. There’s some fucking awesome peaks on this album “Desert E with Dope D.O.D.)” and “25 with Nems and…

Feel like I’m on a different planet to the rest of the folks hearing this. Beats are interesting at best, irritating at worst, and the flow is just…. shit. Feels like she’s rapping at me over the tanoy system at one of those giant Tesco Extra supermarkets at 3 in the morning when all I’m trying to do is cop a Monster energy drink and a cheese sandwich and get back to the rest of…

Man, I love London Zoo, and Angels & Devils, so imagine my surprise when I found out that I’d slept on this thing coming out two years ago. I won’t tell you its straight fire, because as always with this kind of thing, its impossible not to be a bit hit and miss. Some of the collabs are a bit, err, not so great, to be honest, but the ones that are (I’m looking at…

Struggling to find the words to accurately convey how absolutely atrocious this single is. Nobody asked for this. Nobody wanted this. Nobody deserved this. This is, honestly, quite possibly, the peak (or is that nadir?) of cringe.

This is an excellent underground hip hop record with a production style that is right up my street. I love the analogue warmth of a it all, as well the excellent and well-placed samples. Flow-wise, the Company have it nailed down, with some excellent bars and a general overall vibe that is really cool and confident. No idea where I picked this up but glad I checked it out. Really good stuff.

Personally, I really didn’t feel the second Ice record. I probably need to listen to it a few more times, but the dreamy, moody dub-like atmosphere of the first release is long gone, instead replaced with big stinky beats (not a bad thing) and a ton of guest vocalists ranging from Blixa Bargeld to EL-P, which makes this worth listening to if only for the strange cross-section of styles and voices. Bad Blood almost feels…

Esham’s songs about “love making” are not subtle nor particularily clever, but they do make me laugh. Whether or not that was the original intention or not is perhaps debatable. But the moral of this EP is, well, mans was horny, by the goose of it. Erotic Poetry isn’t as filthy as say, The Sexorcist by Necro, but I still wouldn’t play “The Jaw Bone” for my gran, if you get what I’m saying.

I have a lot of time for Esham but this legitimately sounds like a Goblin-era Tyler outtake set to a stock beat that someone downloaded off Soundcloud. Not a strong start to the promo cycle for the new record, I’ll be honest.

Judgment Day is probably my least favourite of the early Esham records, but that’s moreso because the other stuff just beyond kills it, rather than Judgement Day being particularily awful or anything like that. Hey, releasing a double album as your second record is a bold move especially when you consider how fast and loose Boomin’ Words From Hell is. Judgement Day is a step forward to the man’s known signature acid rap sound, but…

I tend to see Judgement Day as one whole album, as a modern listener that’s how it’s presented to us on streaming services, so its hard to appreciate the split between the two records. I’d love to get some of this wicked shit on CD but the prices are just absurd, even for the remasters that happened recently. Anyway, part 2, “night”, is choc full of fucking amazing rap tunes. The opening track is awesome,…

I got into JMT through Vinnie Paz guesting on some Immortal Technique stuff (I think, anyway), so I came in around this era and this was the first record I ever heard by them, so a lot of the chat about this not being as good as the old shit wasn’t applicable to me, as I hadn’t heard any of that stuff yet. I’ve had this album “saved” on my to-do list since 2014, and…

Are ICP done with the second run of joker’s cards yet? Honestly I’ve lost track. Anyways, it barely seems five minutes since Furious Fred Fury hit the grown running but of course it’s been ages now and I’m just out of the loop. Yum Yum Bedlam does absolutely nothing for me. Working primarily with another guy called Shaggy on production, rather than some of the older cats, this thing has a totally different vibe than…

Danny Brown has always been an interesting rapper but Atrocity Exhibition goes off the deep end, I won’t lie. In a good way, of course. This is very abstract, at least in production, which shambles and drags along as much as it pummels with hard-hitting beats. Lyrically, this is a dark record, with all sorts of mental health issues appearing at the forefront. This is great shit.

With Devil’s Night, D12 gave the world their first full length. Production-wise, you can easily consider this a sister album to Eminem’s original Marshal Mathers LP from the year before. Dre is back in the seat, and the beatwork is more or less the same; heavy, snapping metallic instrumentation and Dre’s super surround sound production that carries over from Chronic 2001. Flow wise, the quality of rappers in D12 varies, as does the ability to…

This has to be one of the most out-there things that I have ever heard, which is really saying something. I first came across a few of the “MCs” on this thing back in 2006/2007 in the MySpace days. Colour me surprised to not only find that MC Bushpig and MC Slurry and all these other horrible aliases are not only still listened to all these years later, but they actually did a full length…

The Bug has collaborated with Warrior Queen many times now, but this EP is one of the earlier efforts. Backed with the tune “World War 3”, “Aktion Pak” itself is a fair ol’ banger. The rest of the release contains extensive dubs/remixes of the title track by The Bug himself, as well as a completely unrelated track at the end. A strange one.

Excellent production, but one that is kinda typical for this 10s era hipster hip hop stuff. Like I said though, excellently done, especially in the beats department. For all the vibes here the beats are consistently great.  Lyrically, things are quite clever, but there are some stinkers (like the forced reference to MBV’s Loveless). Likewise the guest spots are equally so-so, with some excellent verses from Danny Brown, El-P and Despot. I’d never heard Despot…

Relapse is probably the most “modern” Eminem record that I look on fondly. A lot of the songs are recorded in this weird accent (just check out the first track “3AM”) but that aside, this is pretty solid. The misogyny and homophobia is enormously high as per usual. The bonus disk, Refill, isn’t really up to much (as soon as I heard Lil Wayne my expectations plummeted). Also, for all the years I’ve listened to…

I was well into ICP when I was in my teens but I don’t actually recall buying this. I think it was from Play.com or some such archaic method of acquiring physical media. For the most part, these songs are ICP cutting room floor grade of hip hop / horrorcore cheese. I use horrorcore in the lightest sense also, despite this being one half of one of the genre’s most defining acts, the link here…

I got this 12″ free with a Discogs order probably about a decade ago, and I finally listened to it. Featuring a few cuts and extras from his 7 Deadly Sins album sessions, Valuable Game is actually a pretty fun listen. My favourite song has to be “Always Wanted To Be A Ho”, which is tongue in cheek but actually heavily calls out those who prey on vulnerable women, which is nice considering how misogynistic…

Honestly, I don’t know why I do it to myself. With the absolute meltdown that is I No She Hot She No I’m Rich 5, I believe my time with Viper has come to an end. I just cannot invest any more time in listening to this absolute dreck. It was fun when it lasted. Like… this is so fucking bad, with absolutely zero endearing qualities. Plus it’s 1 hour and 40 minutes long. The…

This is a long overdue listen for me. Dogg Pound, is perhaps, quite famously, a duo comprising of Kurupt and Daz Dillinger, who you may know from Dr. Dre’s albums or Snoop Dogg’s legendary Doggystyle album. These are the two guys that fill out a good chunk of guest spots on some high profile releases in the hip hop world during the 90s and it was high time (lol) that I checked out their debut…

On first impressions, VHS Logos’ legendary Mantra record fits right in alongside the other early greats of the vaporwave genre. However, give it chance to develop and you are treated to a smattering of beats and vibes in the hip hop and funk styles too. Everything is wrapped in that warm, fuzzy 90s analogue sound that we all love vaporwave so much for, and I’m sure there’s plenty of re-worked samples and songs going on…

Okay, so – before I begin, how tf is this 10 years old? Damn! The time, she flies! The Money Store is the record that brought Death Grips into the mainstream, introducing the band to a new generation of music rabid fans, who no doubt lapped up the aural carnage and abrasive experimental hip hop like rabid dogs. I find a lot of the later Death Grips records get a little too obtuse, but here…

This is a short yet rewarding release from Terrace Martin and a revolving door of collaborators. It’s warm, comfortable yet snazzy music that is summed up perfectly in its name. I’m reminded how Miles Davis’ Doo Bop tried to mix jazz with the emerging and extremely popular hip hop styles of the early 90s. Whilst that might not have gone to plan, here such a thing is achieved to a dazzling effect. Kamasi Washington crops…

Well then….. lol. I got this from a charity shop I think in 2013 or at the latest 2014. I used to work part time collecting dead peoples clothes that charity shops couldn’t sell. They’d sell the clothes to my company by weight, so the money would still be going to good causes, and we’d collect the clothes in high volumes and take them back to HQ to be pulped and turned into fuck-knows-what. This…

Well this is an absolute banger of a track. I tend to focus on albums rather than singles here on LIW, but every now and then I’ll hear one so have to write about it. This has an absolutely stomper of a beat to it, backed up with some clean and stunning synthesizers and robotic vocals. I believe this guy has done some work with Kamasi Washington so I’ll have to try and hunt that…

Man this is a classic. I just realised, despite the countless times I’ve listened to this thing, I don’t actually own this record, in any format. I need to sort that out. A cassette or vinyl will do! Honestly, I’m not the biggest fan of Wu-Tang, and whilst I don’t claim to have heard their entire body of work, everything else they released that I have heard just pales in comparison to this absolute masterpiece….

Personally, I blame this EP for the entire existence of ICP. I’m sorry, but there is NO WAY they didn’t model their entire ghetto clown thing off this shit. I mean absolutely no disrespect, but c’mon. Musically, this is oooold school Esham with that trademark sound and delivery, a year or so after Boomin’ Words From Hell dropped. Great shit.

Another solid album from Doom. Is there a bad Doom album? If so, I’ve yet to hear it. The sampling is turned up to 11 here, with seemingly every song filled with hare-brain references to heroes and villains of the past. Doom’s flows are of course, legendary, you don’t need me to tell you that.