KRS-One — Adventures in Emceein

The album number eleven is one of the weakest ever in the discography of KRS-One, one of the best MCs of the golden age, between the end of the eighties and the beginning of the nineties. Originally, there are no production credits, but they pop up on discogs: the beats are provided by Enoch, Adam Deitch, Chris Max Pinset, Adam Smirnoff, Nick Kasper, Duane "Da Rock" Ramos, Robert Hernandez, James Desmond, Panauh Kalayeh, Bam Beats, MIC, KDL, Alex Track, Stevie J of the Hitmen, QF, Lounge Lizzards and KRS. Excluding this last one and the guy from Puffy's production team, I've never heard of any of them. Guests are some of the best ever such as MC Lyte, Rakim, Chuck D, Nas, as well as Just Blaze and names of strangers such as Keith Stewart, Pee-Doe, S-Five, Carlet Boseman, Non-Stop and Vince Flores.

Royce da 5'9" — Independent's Day

The concept behind this street album (product halfway between the studio album and the mixtape) is quite interesting: Royce puts on the table an hour of material made together with independent artists or / and who don't have a contract. Production is handled by Six July, Asar, Great Scott, Nottz and KIDD. Guests are Big Herk, Juan, Ingrid Smalls, Sara Stokes, Cee Lo Green, Yo Gotti, Juan, Kid Vishis, Blade Icewood, K-Doe and La tha Darkman.

Shabazz the Disciple — The Passion of the Hood Christ

After releasing his first album, a sort of large collection of songs released in the mid to late nineties, Shabazz the Disciple rejoins Sunz of Man and reconnects with Wu. A few years later, he released his second solo effort, a street album consisting of eleven original songs, three skits, six remixes and one bonus track. The CD is printed in a limited number of copies, about a thousand, and distributed independently, also through its website. The cover features the rapper on the right sitting on a throne, on top of which rests a golden crown, flanked by two specular golden lions, image often frequent in heraldry and also present in the coat of arms of the tribe of Judah, to which Shabazz refers several times during the listening.

Logic — YS Collection, Vol. 1

By taking the best tracks from his "Young Sinatra" mixtape series, a really great album can come out, something as competent as a hip-hop record of the season. Logic tries to do this in "Volume 1", his first compilation, however, he's unable to close a project that is truly excellent, despite having a lot of material available. The first part of the tape is competent, "We Get High" is the only top moment and songs like "The Come Up" and "5 A.M." are obstacles to the solidity and regularity of the project. The central part suffers with forgettable songs such as "Ballin'" and "Man of the Year" (where the boy doesn't have Schoolboy Q's energy, Juice's liveliness, or Ruth Radelet's amazing delivery; damn, he doesn't even have Radelet's attack, even though the song doesn't sample "Cherry"), then it resumes with an excellent ending, concluding with "Tokyo Nights", the only original track where Like eclipses Logic on a promising boom bap with dry drum and light samples. Recommended for fans.

Highlights: "One", "We Get High", "Relaxation", "Just Another Day", "Dead Presidents III", "Inception", "Walk on By".

Rating: 7.5/10.

Curren$y — Welcome to Jet Life Recordings 2

The sequel to the first volume is an even bigger showcase for the label's artists: in this mixtape, Fendi P, TY, Jay Worthy, Rob49, Treety, Kenneth Brother, Pretty Yellow, Black Cobain, I'sis, MyWae, Neno Calvin, OG Maco, G Style, Scotty ATL and BLÜ are featured. In addition to Spitta, the protagonist in these 44 minutes. The production is poor, I don't know who's behind the keyboards. I hope not more than one person, because the difference isn't seen: 14 beats practically the same, the snare drum is the same everywhere, always, sometimes there's a melodic sample that lightens one of the worst noises in contemporary hip-hop, but often the snare acts undisturbed. The tape is far too long, with cheap trap music and mediocre rap: while the lead performer sounds good even with this kind of questionable rhythms, the others struggle and for most of the time I don't care. 4/10.

GZA / Genius — Pro Tools

Sadness. This is what surrounds and envelops the entire project. Gary "GZA / Genius" Grice is tired. Very tired. Not only in his delivery, you feel that he's no longer able to spit one word after another, it's a mental condition, more than a physical one. He changes labels for the fifth time in six albums, after Cold Chillin', Geffen, Wu-Tang Productions, MCA and Angeles, he releases the record under the independent Babygrande Records.

HRSMN — The Last Ride

First, last and only LP by HRSMN, formerly The Four Horsemen, referring to the horsemen of the Apocalypse. On the cover, from left to right: Killah Priest with the Wu-Tang Clan emblem represents death, Ras Kass represents pestilence, Kurupt represents famine and Canibus represents war, according to the interpretations of the boys, who do the last ride on the Moon...

This record isn't a disappointment just because you get there without any expectations. They spit battle rap, and what could they do? I have no idea. The guest seem pulled out of a random rap guest generator, Chino XL, Phil the Agony, Hus Kingpin, Planet Asia. The lead producer is Who? and somehow his songs are the freshest ones. Bronze Nazareth is the beatmaker of "Centaurs", the other dudes behind the keyboards don't do anything to talk about. The tracks are all too long, the four emcees spit hardcore on too minimal rhythms.

This supergroup stuff in hip-hop never seems to have worked and this is yet another demonstration of it. Take these guys, each of them has at least one classic record in their discography, so the potential was there, but it's precisely the deeply poor choice of rhythms that makes this project (like the previous ones) collapse from the very beginning. 5/10.

KRS-One & Marley Marl — Hip Hop Lives

When "Hip Hop Is Dead" comes out, Nas turns on the torch again and provokes reactions throughout the Hip Hop Nation. Among others, Lawrence "KRS-One" Parker decides to respond to this declaration, while his career is in decline and he's losing the attention of audiences and critics year after year. Kris wasn't expecting anything better in order to regain the attention he deserves, after the dissing with rnb singer Nelly, which ended in a few months. After over 20 years, KRS-One and Marley Marl decide to squash their beef and put an end to the Bridge Wars with this collaborative record. The LP boasts the presence of Magic Juan, Red Alert, Blaq Poet (secondary protagonist of the Bridge Wars) and Busy Bee Starski aka Chief Rocker Busy Bee. DJ Premier provides the scratches on "The Victory" and 88 Fingers co-produces "All Skool".

Memphis Bleek — 534

Fourth and final studio album by Malik "Memphis Bleek" Cox, rapper from Brooklyn, New York. More precisely from Marcy, the record was named after the building number of the housing project in which he grew up. Production is handled by Just Blaze, Swizz Beatz, Bink, Irv Gotti, Demi-Doc, Chad Hamilton, Ryan Press, LeQawn Bell, 9th Wonder, Coptic and Shea Taylor. Guests include Rihanna, Boxie, Livin Proof, MOP, Young Gunz, Denim and Jay-Z.

Lou from Paradise & Statik Selektah — Not Dead Yet! EP

Lou the Human changes moniker and releases his first material under the new name, Lou from Paradise. The 6-track, 16-minute EP is entirely produced by Statik Selektah: it's not the best set of rhythms from the Boston producer, boom bap with sparse drums and third-rate loops that wouldn't sound good even instrumental. With Lou's rap above, they sound no better: the boy seems inspired in the opening track "Brainless", on a dark, drumless rhythm, but in the remaining dozen minutes his effortless style isn't adequately supported by Statik's musical choices.

KRS-One — Life

KRS-One continues a decline in the quality of its offering with the release of a new CD, two seasons after the last: the disc features music created exclusively by producers The Resistance and rap performed by Lawrence Parker together with hip-hop group The Footsoldiers. Four of the five members of this group get a spot on four different tracks. It's a socio-conscious album with hip-hop fillers, quite similar to his previous works, the lyrics aren't inspired and the quality of the musical carpets are gray, there are generic boom bap rhythms, in the happiest moments. With three quarters of an hour of material and fourteen tracks ranging from bland to bad, the tape, distributed by Antagonist Records, ends up being one of the most forgettable projects in KRS's discography, despite the praise it received from critics. 4/10.

Bad Meets Evil — Hell: The Sequel EP

In 1997, Ryan "Royce da 5'9"" Montgomery knows Marshall "Eminem" Mathers through DeShaun "Proof" Holton. From the collaboration between the two Detroit artists, the singles "Nuttin' to Do" and "Scary Movies" are produced, which make up the charts, and a collaborative track is inserted in the major debut of Eminem in 1999, with the name "Bad Meets Evil". Royce is expected to sign with Dr. Dre's Aftermath and continue the collaboration with his friend, however, the two take different paths following the differences between Royce and D12, a group affiliated with Slim Shady.

Prodigal Sunn — The Spark

Second studio album by Prodigal Sunn, Sunz of Man rapper and affiliate of the Wu-Tang Clan. Production is mainly performed by Salvee One and DJ B. Original, with five beats each respectively, together with Shroom Beatz, B. Cayer, M. Archacki, St. Peter, Fonkytaff, Fatal Sunn, Kinetic and Shaka Amazulu. Guests are Ghostface Killah, Cappadonna and Masta Killa of Wu-Tang Clan, Heaven Razah, Killah Priest and 60 Second Assassin of Sunz of Man, 12 O'Clock of Brooklyn Zu, Shogun the Assassin and Dom Pachino of Killarmy, Black Knights, Shaka Amazulu, Leggezin, an artist affiliated with Killa Beez, Makeba Mooncycle, sister of Prodigal Sunn, and Big Twins who participates as the only external guest to the Killa Beez.

KRS-One — Keep Right

Eighth effort of KRS-One, seventh studio album, fifth in three years. Production is handled by KRS, Daneja, Domingo, DJ Qbert, B. Creative, Fatin Horton, Gordon Williams, Rich Nice, Soul Supreme, Gato, John Doe and Statik Selektah. The guests are Afrika Bambaataa, Minister Server, L da Headtoucha, An Ion, Illin 'P, Mix Master Mike, Supastition, Akbar, Joe and Mad Lion. The lyrics are decent, the performer's hardcore rap is good, a little lackluster towards the end, and his socio-conscious, political and bragging themes start to get repetitive after two decades, plus his selection of beats still leaves much to be desired. The music becomes more difficult with each listen, especially the first two songs and the whole second half, unlike the first part, when the production is more solid, consistent and regular compared to the rest of the record, thanks to Fatin Horton, Soul Supreme, Rich Nice and Williams Gordon who record the best beats. Domingo disappoints, while Statik Selektah is left to the outro. Released by the independent Grit Records, the album exceeds in the quantity of songs and skits (a third), it's negatively criticized by most of the reviewers and marks the moment in which KRS-One loses its relevance even in the underground circuit, one year after the release of the successful "Kristyles". 5/10.

Raekwon — Chef Cocaine Cooked [mixtape]

Like all the others that preceded it and many who will follow it, it arrives as an appetizer for the sequel to Rick Diamonds' debut. This official mixtape of Raekwon The Chef is made in collaboration with J Love: it's an abridged version of "Only Build for the Streets Part 2", from which eleven tracks are cut, for a final total of 20 songs and about three quarters of listening time.

will.i.am — Songs About Girls

Will.i.am tries again with this rap thing. It just doesn't work. Not for him. If he were considered a rapper, he would enter the inner circle as a candidate for the worst rapper ever. There are no production credits for half the album and the reason is quickly understood, the sound is embarrassing for more than an hour. The only ones who come to the rescue of this ship that is sinking in the middle of nowhere in the ocean are childhood friend Dante Santiago and the guy I-want-to-be-on-many-albums-as-possible-as-long-as-a-big-check-arrives Snoop Doggy Dogg.

will.i.am — Must B 21

Courtesy of William James Adams Jr. aka will.i.am, one of the worst albums of the year is released. Production by will.i.am, Printz Board, John Legend, George Pajon Jr. and Dylan "3D" Dresdow. The guests are MC Lyte, KRS-One, Phife, MC Supernatural, Flii, Planet Asia, Kron Don, John Stephens, Triple Seven, Dante Santiago, Fergie, Niu, Taboo, Phil the Agony and Tash.

Ransom — Se7en

First album of 2021 for Ransom, one of the fittest rappers of the moment in New York. The project, more like a solid EP than a studio album, revolves around the concept of the seven deadly sins and faithfully plays on the number seven: in addition to the aforementioned deadly sins, namely pride, avarice, lust, envy, gluttony, anger and sloth, here flipped, this is the seventh studio album for the MC of Jersey City, consisting of seven tracks, released on the seventh day of the sixth (?) month, with the number also replacing the "v" in the title, not to mention that dividing the length of the tape, 22 minutes, by the number of tracks, the pi comes out, which is the same time as the final cut "Pride".

will.i.am — Lost Change

To continue the series of publications "The Beat Generation", the British label BBE chooses to rely on a new emerging producer who's doing well on the hip-hop scene. After the albums of Jay Dee and Pete Rock, and before those of Marley Marl and DJ Jazzy Jeff, the one of will.i.am, his first soloist, is released. The production is done entirely by will.i.am together with Printz Board, Michael Angelo Batio, and Dylan "3D" Dresdow, aided by live instrumentalists on each track. The guests are Planet Asia, Terry Dexter, Mykill Miers, The Horn Dogs, Huck Fynn, Oezlem, Medusa and Madd Dogg. The music chosen by the author isn't particularly inspired and sadly he doesn't seem to know how to rap adequately in order to entertain the listener. This first LP, the official soundtrack of the movie of the same name, proves that will.i.am has nothing to do with hip-hop, luckily, he understood it and brought out his best with the pop-dance group The Black Eyed Peas. 2/10.

CJ Fly — Rudebwoy

Collaborative album between New York rapper Chaine "CJ Fly" Downer and Lawrence producer Patrick "Statik Selektah" Baril. CJ Fly calls guests mainly from the Pro Era collective, as well as "outsiders" like Haile Supreme, OSHUN, Lexipaz and Conway the Machine. The tape deals with personal themes and crime with a generally positive mood, on a jazzy and bland production entirely made by Statik: clearly not the his best set, there are no slips, the beats sound quite decently, but no one surprises in these 47 minutes, while the performers pull out bars with a slow and syncopated rapping, impacting the drum midtempo without disappointing. The Pro Era posse at the end is interesting, but the project struggles to stand out in the midst of the dense tide of seasonal releases. 6.5/10.

School of the Gifted — School of the Gifted

School of the Gifted, formerly Illuminati Network aka Wuminati, was born as an experimental music project consisting of four main members and a fifth hidden member, and is based on a Marvellian-inspired concept, in which comic book heroes join forces and secretly work to save the world.

Big Daddy Kane — Taste of Chocolate

As dull as it is, it seems his album number fifteen, instead is "only" the third. At the halfway point of the nineties, Big Daddy Kane is no longer inspired, no longer wants to commit himself and decides to get off the podium of the best MCs of the moment. He does it, very badly, with one of the most commercial efforts of the year.

Gang Starr — Hard to Earn

In 1994 the fourth Gang Starr album was released, welcomed as an excellent work by critics and public: four singles were extracted, and the disc entered the top 25 of the pop chart, reaching the second place among rap records. If you don't consider the numerous uncredited guests present in the "Aiiight Chill..." skit, the record has the appearances of Nice & Smooth and numerous members of the Gang Starr Foundation crew, such as Jeru tha Damaja, Big Shug and Group Home. In production, DJ Premier maintains the jazzy sound on which the group has built their careers: he experiments and plays with the rhythms, pulling out some curious, eccentric and sometimes even annoying loops, which almost all work amazingly (however, the ear may not get used to these sounds, especially in the first part). Guru spits bravado bars and stanzas against wack MCs with his regular style and with rare variations over the course of the hour, but his lyrics hold on thanks to a compelling East Coast soundscape: Primo manages to do so much with just a few elements, he boasts the presence of a perpetually dynamic drum machine, often excellent, and layered samples from different genres, from which he invents minimal loops and somehow always captivating. The beat of the legendary "Mass Appeal" is a fantastic loop of less than three seconds, slowed down by a hidden jazz LP: DJ Premier places a perfect dry midtempo drum and pays homage to Da Youngsta's, while Guru delivers confident and smooth, and the duo creates one of the best tracks of the year. Distributed by EMI via Chrysalis, it's easily one of the must-listen in hip-hop season, thanks to its great simplicity.

Highlights: "Code of the Streets", "Speak Ya Clout", "DWYCK", "Mass Appeal", "Suckas Need Bodyguards".

Rating: 8.5/10.