INJURY RESERVE- INJURY RESERVE REVIEW

Injury Reserve are quite lowkey in the rap game. Comprising of rappers Ritchie With A T; Stepa J.Groggs; and in-house producer Parker Corey, I actually became aware of the Arizona-based trio once again thanks to Spotify. S On Ya Chest (bar the shot to Little Brother's Rapper Big Pooh and that annoying part at the end) and 2016 Interlude are both tunes I listen to on a regular. So I thought, let me check out their self-titled debut.

Their debut album kicks off with the bouncy, minimalistic-sounding Koruna & Lime. Oakland native Stepa J Groggs drops some nice lines on the first verse like-

'If you didn't help me get it, don't be speakin' on mine
No, for real, don't say s*it, like you speakin' in mime'

Now moving on to his partner-in-rhyme Ritchie With A T. Based on the tunes I mentioned in the intro, Ritchie isn't one to bite his tongue and hold back any criticism. You'll certainly clock this on Jawbreaker where he gives his 'You know what grinds my gears?' take on today's fashion trends. Another minimalistic production, Rico Nasty drops a dope guest verse and gives some game to the listeners with

'I got money and the power and I'm still myself
Momma said don't go broke tryin' to fill yourself
Momma said don't break tryin' to build yourself
And don't feel ashamed if you need some help
'Cause we all do...'

The production is handled predominantly by in-house producer Parker Corey. I previous pointed out the use of minimalistic beats and that is the prominent sound for the first five tracks. They're pretty dope though. QWERTY Interlude kinda reminded me of Hive by Earl Sweatshirt and Jailbreak The Tesla is definitely one of the standout beats on the LP. The latter could give the best-behaved child ADHD.
  After track 5... Gravy N Biscuits takes the listener from hyper to happy with the feelgood vibes. Three Man Weave had a similar feel to S On Ya Chest with the jazz influence though the horns can feel overbearing at times. The aforementioned tracks felt like anomalies though as the overall production was pretty damn raw and aggressive. I f'd with it though.



Both Ritchie and Stepa are technically adept and IR's content doesn't get boring as they rap about various topics from the light-hearted to the serious. 
One standout was Best Spot In The House. Over a beat that is both rugged and haunting, they both speak about their shortcomings as people. The brutal honesty definitely made me revisit this a few times.
Another was What A Year It's Been where over an intensifying crescendo, the pair lament over personal events that took place in the last 12 months.

Out of the 13 tracks, 5 of them had features including Freddie Gibbs and all of the guest rappers impressed with their verses.

There were some interesting moments on this album. For one, this is the first time I've heard an openly-gay rapper (Cakes Da Killa on GTFU) feature on a hip hop album. 
Also after what was said about Rapper Big Pooh, I certainly wasn't expecting to hear his old partner-in-rhyme Phonte (who he recently reconciled with) on this album either. Even if it was just to drop a couple ad-libs on the closer Three Man Weave. Richie being Richie, he may raise some eyebrows by claiming his basketball skills parallel the mic skills of Russ... we'll leave you to judge how he rates his ballin'. 
   Rap Song Tutorial was a cool concept too and probably the most original song I've heard this year.

Overall, I enjoyed this album. Good debut from the trio and feels somewhat unique. Injury Reserve definitely have the quality to be first-teamers in this hip hop game. I'll give this an 8.

FAVES
Beat- Jailbreak The Tesla
Verse- Best Spot In The House
Feature- Amine (Jailbreak The Tesla)
Track- What A Year It's Been

SLOWTHAI- NOTHING GREAT ABOUT BRITAIN REVIEW

Typically when you think about UK Hip-Hop, most of the artists that would instantly spring to mind would be London rappers. After being named in BBC's annual Sound of... 2019 list however, the Midlands-based Slowthai will surely be aiming to put his region on the map. 
  NGAB was released on May 17th to critical acclaim and also landed at number 9 in the National charts so he's definitely doing his part in regards to putting his side of town on the map. With this being said though, what do I think of this album?

The album begins with title track... Nothing Great About Britain... Now this is my first time ever listening to Slowthai and he makes it clear from the gate what he's about to the unfamiliar.

'Swings and roundabouts you're round my kid
Grass ain't always greener where the other side lives
Nothing great about Britain
Tea 'n biscuits, mash, jellied eels and a couple little trinkets
East end you Phil Mitchell
Get stabbed with the PhillipsHand on my heart I swear I'm proud to be British' NGAB

In the opening track, he reiterates the uncomfortable truth to those that falsely stereotype Britiain as this splendid place where the road is 'paved with gold'. He then refers to Ainsley Harriott as a bounty and a member of the royal family as a 'see you next tuesday'. On first impressions, It's safe to say... This yout gives no typa f*ck! 



Produced predominantly by Kwes Darko, the album for the most part had that 'grime' feel to it. Slowthai does however show his versatility on the Mura Masa-produced Doorman which reminded me of the music The Prodigy used to make. I can imagine Doorman becoming one of Thai's signature tracks and shuttin down festivals for sure. 
The beats for the most part were aggressive and intense though Toaster was a fairly mellow contrast and Thai's melodies blended well with the production.

NGOA covers a range of different topics. The title track being self-explanatory; Gorgeous sees the rapper reminisce about his younger years; Crack sees Thai speaking about his dependence on a toxic relationship; and the standout track of the album Northampton's Child is an ode to his mother who struggled to raise him. In addition, it's a recap of his turbulent childhood.
You could argue the content doesn't match the beats but Slowthai's expressive delivery skills makes this a case of opposites attract.



Both Skepta and Jaykae dropped dope guest verses on Inglorious and Grow Up and to be real, the host was outspat on both occasions. 
I wouldn't class the Northampton rapper as a super-lyricist as such but he does have a decent level of technical ability; he can flow well; he covers multiple topics and can deliver some memorable one-liners. 

I feel the album may have needed another tune that gave me the same vibe as T N Biscuits (I'm not reviewing the deluxe version) but a solid debut overall from a rising star. Also it's good to hear some Grime-type beats giving so many UK artists have seemingly abandoned that sound. Aside from the aforementioned banger, I look forward to see what next this wild yout brings to the table. I'll give this a 7.5.


FAVES

Beat- Grow Up
Verse- Northampton's Child
Feature- Jaykae on Grow Up
Track- Northampton's Child

DJ KHALED- FATHER OF ASAHD REVIEW

DEEEE JAYYYYYY KHALEEEEEDDDDD. 

'All I do is cringe cringe cringe no matter what/
Chat nonsense all the time and I think I've had enough/
And If I see Khaled in the building, I'm a tell him shut up
and don't come here, and don't come near, and don't come here/
shut up now, shut up now, shut up now/
Cos all I do is cringe cringe cringe/
When I hear you sing, don't come round here, just stay there'

That's what I would've said in a drunken rage if I copped a ticket to Wireless last year and if DJ Khaled actually turned up... Neither happened LOL. 
   The DJ, 'motivational speaker', devoted father, meme legend, hit-maker, 'unintentional' comedian and overall walking cringefest returns with his 11th LP. As always, it is packed with the A-listers of Hip Hop, RnB and even Dancehall.

Father Of Asahd kicks off with Holy Mountain. With Sizzla; Mavado and the recently-freed Buju Banton all featuring, this should have been a classic on paper. Unfortunately it just sounded like a bag of noise. Their verses would have been better suited to a traditional dancehall riddim.

Jealous (Breezy, Weezy and Big Sean) and the SZA-featured Just Us (which samples the classic Ms Jackson by Outkast) will most likely be released as singles. Neither of them to me are particularly bad tunes but I don't feel they have any true replay value. I can already imagine me forgetting about these tunes once I'm done with this review.  



Higher is fire and is the best track on the album by a long way. The verses; the beat; the chorus, everything was dope. 
Won't Take My Soul had two cool verses from the legendary Nas and Meek Mill had a fire verse on Weather The Storm. 
Higher to Weather The Storm was a 3 track purple patch on FOA. The fact that Higher was the last video Nipsey Hussle shot will give this album a lot more significance... which is a shame in some ways considering how weak this LP is. 

Other than that Jay Z dropped a nice verse that went to waste on the forgettable Top Off. Big Sean shows why I think so highly of Detroit rappers on Thank You and Buju Banton's reggae closer Holy Ground proves my point about Holy Mountain as this tune was pretty good.



This was a 15-track album and the other stuff isn't worth mentioning unless you wanna hear something negative. For example, Freak N You was garbage and never shoulda sampled the Jodeci classic. 

DJ Khaled had a temper tantrum when FOA failed to go number 1. If he cared more about critical success than commercial success maybe it would have. DJ Khaled loves to say We The Best, not if this is anything to go by. I'll give this a 4.

FAVES
Verse- Meek Mill on Weather The Storm
Beat- Higher
Track- Higher

KOTA THE FRIEND- FOTO REVIEW

Firstly I gotta give a shoutout to Spotify. If it weren't for the Daily Mix and that thing when they do a shuffle based on the last song you listened to (song radio?), I wouldn't even know who Kota The Friend is. Dude doesn't even have a wikipedia page! He does however have over 20k followers on Twitter, over 150k followers on insta and a second album titeld FOTO that he dropped on 15th May.    
The song that made me aware of Kota was Alkaline. The super chill vibe and the introspective content from the Brooklyn spitter caught my attention and hence I decided to check this album out. 

FOTO kicks off with some words of wisdom by an old-head on Full Bloom who speaks on the importance of photos. Followed by a soulful beat and some laid-back lyricism. When Kota said 'I hit you with that boom boom bap like it's Dilla Day' I had a feeling this album was gonna be dope. Thankfully I was proven right. 

The production was very smooth and chill. It seems Kota is influenced by the likes of A Tribe Called Quest because the beats (mostly self-produced) had that soulful, jazzy, 'nod your head' feel for the most part.

Content-wise, the LP seems to be split up by interludes. 
So from the start to the 2nd interlude (Pop's), the bars are very introspective. While 'Birdie' is clearly a tune about dating, Kota doesn't nail down one particular topic at this stage of the album (tracks 1-8) in my opinion. Seems to me (and I could be wrong by the way) like he was just observing life and decided to write down whatever he felt at that time.  I believe the following bars give a good insight on Kota's character.

'Hella bummy, nigga fuck an image
People calling when it benefit them
Voicemail be like going fishing
Waking up and every day is sunny
Gotta calm spirit, you can't take it from me
Everybody smiling on my mini island
It's an added bonus we making money' Church

'Ain't no counting money finna woo me,
Smack you if I see you wearing Gucci...
Lil Kota playing in the backyard
Nigga, I am busy taking pictures of my offspring
Lotta folks need a whole lot, wish they had more
I am okay, find joy in the small things
People wanna see me in the limelight
I just want a hammock on the lake"Kota, you about to get signed, right?
I be like, "Nigga, no way' Hollywood

The Gucci bar likely relates to the high-end brand being accused of racism. A topic he covers further on Alkaline and For Coloured Boys. The bars I posted kinda explains why he's not as well-known as he should be. This is because fame isn't a goal for Kota. 



The Saba-assisted Solar Return and Mommy are sandwiched between three different interludes which signifies to me that these songs are unique in comparison to the others. The former sees Kota and the Chicago rapper (the sole rap feature) exchange great verses over a beat that... certainly suits the brand of rap that Saba is known for... The latter is a cool concept where the verses see Kota rapping from the perspectives of a struggling mother. Check that out. 
   After Uncle Cal's Interlude, The album then takes an upbeat, 'turn up' vibe with Backyard and KOALA where Kota raps about partying with friends and travelling the world.
   The final interlude (Grandpa's) sees Kota rapping about past memories which explains why the closer is called FOTO and highlights the wisdom and significance of the opening speech by the old-head that I mentioned earlier. Kota speaks on past relationships, offers advice to young black boys on the standout For Coloured Boys and raps about past events in his younger years.

Kota can spit for sure. We all know at this point that Kota has good content. In addition, he displayed dope wordplay and different flows throughout FOTO.

While FOTO speaks on serious issues such as systematic racism, consumerism, bad parenting etc it also covers relationships, chillin' with friends, having fun and just generally life. FOTO is basically an insight into the life of a young black person who, against all odds, is trying to be great and enjoy what life has to offer. 

Kota is a friend to the 'hip hop head'; the 'backpack rap' fan; the person that wants a break from trap, drill and songs about hallucinogens; to those who want to hear soul in their earholes. 

This is definitely a good shout for album of the year. I'll give this an 8.5.

FAVES
Beat- Full Bloom
Verse- For Coloured Boys
Feature- Saba
Track- For Coloured Boys