I didn’t write about every single track on this album, but I want to note that there aren’t any songs I don’t like on here. I even dug the interludes a lot because they had good instrumentals in the background. Like I said, had I listened to this album when it was released, it would have ended up on my best albums of 2025 list. Everything just came together the right way. All of the artists Pro worked with really came through for him on this project. Prolific Wone himself is ... read more

This one is really great., Spaceman Jones has gotta be one of the most consistent artists out of North Carolina right now. Pretty much every project I’ve heard from him has been great. I think it’s been a minute since he dropped a full length album, but he’s still been feeding his audience with very high quality EPs. I wasn’t sure how this would compare to the stuff with MOTHER HOOD, but to be honest I don’t really even think the production here was weak in ... read more

This album is great to me. I really enjoy every song here. Projects like this make me really happy. The best feeling ever is when I decide to check out a super random, obscure album that seemingly nobody has heard, and it actually ends up being fire. Not just good, but FIRE. I love when I'm checking an artist out for the first time, and I think to myself "how are they not more famous?" Again, I couldn't really find any information about IBN at all. His name is ungoogleable, ... read more

This album is really great. I actually will be surprised if this doesn't end up on my 2026 year end list. Perhaps the most astounding thing about this album is just how much of an improvement it is over From Here, Out There. I liked that album, but everything about this latest project from the production, to the writing, to the atmosphere of the soundscape, to the structure of each song, is leaps and bounds ahead of the first project. Vaygrnt's production here is pretty spectacular. ... read more

This album is pretty damn great. I was honestly caught off guard by how much I ended up enjoying it. This is not only the best instrumental project I’ve heard from Darko, but one of the best Darko albums I’ve heard period. This is a very adventurous collection of sounds, and there really aren’t any lulls. Before this came out, I was under the impression that his production alias was Doc Heller, so I’m not really sure why this is labeled as a Darko the Super album. Maybe ... read more

This album is dope as hell. This is definitely the best Bloodblixing album I've heard in my life, and I'd be curious to see if he's able to surpass it any time in the not-too-distant future. This one apparently took two years to make, and all that time definitely paid off. The production here is straight up amazing to be honest. The coolest thing about it is that I know for a fact that nobody else could've made beats like these. I've picked up on one of Blix's ... read more

I’m gonna be honest. I think this album is amazing. This is easily the best project I’ve ever heard from BlackLiq, and it makes me wanna check out even more work from Dub Sonata. In fact, it actually inspired me to revisit BlackLiq’s preceding album, and I’m enjoying it even more now than I initially did. I really don’t have any consistent gripes with this project. The production? Flames. The features? Fuego. The lyrical content? Boiling hot fire. They knocked this ... read more

This album is really good. As I kinda mentioned in the preamble, this is a pretty sizeable leap in quality from his preceding work. There’s not a single song on here that I think is wack or even mediocre. If someone were to ask me where to begin when trying to get into Aushoj’s music, this is the first thing I would tell them to listen to. Then I’d point them to Space Appointment if they dug this one enough. I prefer this one though. Space Appointment has kind of a different ... read more

This album is pretty good to me. With that said, I have to admit that it has diminishing returns in my experience. What I mean by that is, the more I listen to it, the less I enjoy it. I thought this album was dope as hell the first time I heard it. In fact, it was a serious contender for my album of the year at one point. However, as I returned to it more and more, I thought to myself either “this is cool, but I want more from this” or “this is a little cheesy.” In ... read more

I’m not gon’ hold you… I think this album is amazing. There are way too many top tier songs on this project for me to not love it. This is my new favorite VEGA! album, which is saying a lot. The first VEGA GENESIS was my favorite Trap album of all time… UNTIL NOW. I mean, on the right day I might prefer the first one, but I think he’s evolved since then. Gen3 doesn’t have any cool collabs like the Lil Xelly song, but that could be a good thing depending on ... read more

This album is amazing. I think it’s easily the best produced album I’ve heard so far in 2025, and Open Mike Eagle sounds perfect over these beats. This is a top 3 Open Mike album to me, and the best album I’ve heard from him since Dark Comedy. I really don’t have any consistent gripes. I just can’t get over how good these beats are. I’m really interested to see how Open Mike Eagle follows this up. I know he’s working on a third Cavanaugh album with ... read more

This album is really good. I wasn’t expecting to enjoy it as much as I did. I mean, I really had no expectations going into it at all since I was basically completely unfamiliar with the artist. It’s always a great feeling checking something like this out and discovering a cool new musician. He fully self produced this album, which is pretty impressive. I enjoyed the melancholic guitar-driven instrumentals a lot. Lyrically, this is a pretty heavy and emotional listen. Whose really ... read more

This album is superb. I think this might be my favorite album of the year right now. It's definitely between this, Seeker of Knowledge, and Golliwog. I don't know who I was more impressed by between Sunmundi & Sasco on this project. The production is unlike that of any other album I've ever heard. This even feels a bit different from The Hottest Year on Record instrumentally. This is Avant Garde Jazz Rap. There's not a single track here that I didn't enjoy. I love ... read more

This album is great. I think it’s one of the best albums Brother Ali has made. It’s definitely a top 4 album from him, and maybe top 3 depending on my mood. There’s not a single track here that I don’t like. Brother Ali is one of those artists on whom I can count to kill every verse, so a lot of times the quality of his music is made or broken by the production. Thankfully, Ant came through with some of his best beats ever here. As I said in the body of this write-up, I ... read more

This album is great. I think it’s a big leap in quality from the CYCLEBREAKER EP, and a great entry point for new listeners. The production is spacey, experimental, and at times jazzy. The lyricism throughout this entire project is pretty goddamn awesome, from both tau and the features. There’s really not anything about this project that I had a major issue with. I mean, it’s very brief, but it doesn’t feel undercooked or skeletal to my ears. I’d actually go so far ... read more

This is a good EP. I honestly think each track is better than the last. The production ranges from decent to really good, and Isa’s writing is great. The religious—specifically Christian—content is tackled in a pretty accessible way. At no point does it come off preachy or overbearing. Isa has a good, albeit standard flow. The featured MC was great too. I really don’t have any consistent gripes. I think the song structures could’ve been a bit more ambitious because ... read more

As I said in the preamble, I think this is the best album I’ve heard from 2025 so far. The combination of SOO DO KOO’s kind of lofi sample-based production along with his steady flow and slick lyricism makes for a really dope listening experience for me. One thing I will say is that almost all of the songs are structured the same way with just a dope verse over a dope beat and nothing else going on. Some more variation in that regard may have elevated things even further, but I ... read more

This album is pretty awesome. As far as lofi Hip Hop goes, it doesn’t get much better than this in my opinion. I think these are some of the best beats I’ve heard in a long time, and Chow’s steady, monotone yet heartfelt flows sound great over them. This definitely isn’t a super accessible record; it’s gonna be hard for casual listeners to get into it due to the unique approach to vocal mixing. It sounds like there are multiple vocal tracks layered on top of each ... read more

This album is great. I think it’s a very cohesive record with a dope theme. The astronomical production along with the contemplative lyricism makes for a pretty engaging listening experience for me. There aren’t any songs here that I don’t like to some extent, and the features really added a lot to the project without stealing the spotlight. I honestly don’t have any consistent gripes with this one. Like I insinuated towards the end of the body of this review, there are ... read more

This album is amazing. I think this is the best release I’ve ever heard from Anwar HighSign. He’s really not the type of artist that’s gonna bombard you with multiple undercooked projects every year. He takes more of a traditional approach in which he takes his time to perfect a record before presenting it to the general public. This album does not sound like it was made quickly. It sounds like they really put a lot of blood, sweat, and tears into it, so it’s no wonder ... read more