Category: Albums

Yuki Kitano, better known as Nickelman, is a beatmaker/producer residing in his vibrant hometown of Osaka, Japan. Although Yuki has been making music as Nickelman for over 15 years, it is only within the last decade that he has created his signature sound, a dusty, warm, lofi, blend of vintage synths, layered with hazy drum kicks.

Nickelman releases his newest self produced album titled ‘BeatsGrocery‘ today via URBNET. The twelve track record is a dreamy blend of instrumental hip hop fused with elements of soul, jazz, and rare groove. Using an MPC2000XL, SP-303, and Tape Echo, Nickelman recorded the album onto a cassette tape, to achieve a lush warmth that carries through each track.

‘BeatsGroccery’ is the quintessential head nodding soundtrack for hot and humid city nights of summer 2022.

Coming fresh off his Mephux/Roc Marciano produced 3rd album Blame Kansas earlier this year, Lord Mobb’s very own T.F. gets ready for summer by releasing his 4th album Skanless Summer: 80z Baby.

by Ace Woe

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Devon Brent has come a long way from his ‘Codeine Martin’ days. So far, in fact, that nearly 90 original tracks have been pulled from streaming platforms, just so Brent could rebrand under his given name; a move reminiscent of Kendrick Lamar ditching his ‘K.dot’ moniker and re-introducing himself to the world of hip-hop.

“I’m moving on from my bender days, so, part of that maturity is dropping the old moniker. I got too lost in the artist personality; started using way too many drugs. It’s back to sobriety now. I want to place my focus on more of who I really am.”

Devon was born December 1995 in Pretoria, South Africa, due to his parents’ particular career paths—a topic he opted not to broach for privacy. They moved to Egypt when he was three and lived there for five years before settling in Bethesda, Maryland, where he continued hopping from school to school before eventually dropping out of Montgomery County Community College. 

This trajectory was largely affected by a genetic condition called ‘Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome’ (EDS) as well as health complications that stem from multiple head injuries sustained throughout his youth, the earliest of which occurred back in South Africa at age three. While playing ‘Indiana Jones’ with his brother and cousin, he got caught under a closing garage door which left a dent in the back of his head. Despite all of this, he would go on to live a fairly normal childhood, playing pop warner football up until he was 14 years old. Once he was no longer able to exercise regularly, however, he began gaining weight, going from 160 to 280 lbs over a span of five years before graduating in 2015. By the end of his first semester of college, all the injuries and physical trauma had caught up with him. He was in constant pain and unable to continue his academic career; but, luckily, he had discovered music and comedy.

This newfound freedom coincided with an emerging appreciation for freestyling and stand-up—two skillsets at which Devon found himself to be quite adept. Stand-up comedy became his only form of exercise; comedy clubs were his gym. And, especially since making music did not require too much mobility, he dove into music production as a means to combat depression and hopefully build a catalog worthy of note. This led to the aforementioned ‘Codeine Martin’ days. 

Between 2017 and 2018, Brent would undergo a sort of transformation. With Dean Martin as his archetype, and codeine as his fuel, he began formulating the alter ego of his own undoing and a discography that would later be destroyed. Much like Slim Shady, ‘Codeine Martin’ was a brash, no-holds-barred, never-ask-for-forgiveness, verbal catastrophe. But by 2019, much like Marshal Mathers, he had resolved to quit using drugs or else face imminent consequences. He was subsequently forced to take a hiatus from stand-up comedy, but continued using the Martin moniker for three more years. 

During this timeframe, Brent experienced his most profound artistic breakthroughs, teaming with multi-talented producer Shadoe and streamlining tracks. The first of which, titled “Trained to Go,” was part of an August 2020 self-titled side project, Trapgawdz, alongside LIZZARDBRAIN. This was followed by July 2021’s Shattered Dreams EP, a four-song foray into psychedelic trap-hop which leaves the listener wondering about the possibility of a Shattered Dreams LP (Brent says “No… but then again you never know. Never say never…”) Either way, it’s on to bigger and better things for Devon Brent, Shadoe, and their legions of misfits, both real and imagined.

Will Gates is a 20 year old MC from Traverse City, Michigan who’s been catching my attention for the last year or so by dropping singles like “Juggalo Rage” or more recently “Clown Town”. However with the 1-year anniversary of his debut mixtape Trashboy passing a couple months ago, he’s returning by dropping his debut EP under his own label Trashboy Entertainment.

“Dedication” kicks off the EP with a hi-hat heavy tribute to his homie Ashton whereas “Undisputed” is a fresh ass ode to Detroit down the hyphy sound that some of the younger acts out here be bearing in the music. “Reppin’” takes it back to the trap route to talk about being underground just before the title track brings back the Detroit trap flavor of “Undisputed” to remind everyone he’s obtaining the wicked shit.

The track “Fuccin’ wit da Oppz” works in some pianos to so he can spit that gangsta shit while the final song “I Keep That Hachet on Me” is a keyboard, hi-hat infused juggalo anthem. “Gratitude” ends the album with a 2-minute spoken word cut giving shoutouts to all the people he’s grateful for including myself, which I’m very honored by.

If any of y’all still aren’t hip to Will yet, then I recommend you give Procuring the Wicced a listen because it’s my favorite body of work that he’s put out thus far. The sound of this EP is very refreshing considering that I don’t think I’ve ever heard many people or anyone really put a horrorcore spin on the Detroit trap style & he’s at his hungriest lyrically.

Score: 7/10

This is the 5th full-length album from XP the Marxman. Coming up as 1/3 of the trio Rhyme Addicts. As far as his solo career goes, the dude has a handful of projects under his belt already, with my personal favorite being the Roc Marciano-produced Keep Firing. He just dropped The Marxmanat the very beginning of the year & as we finally enter summer, D-Styles & DJ Rhettmatic are being brought in to fully produced Pacific Standard Time

After the “Pst #1” intro, “Get At a God” kicks off the album on a dreary note thanks to D-Styles with XP comparing himself to that of a God whereas “Lil Mijos” takes a jazzy boom bap route talking about growing up in the streets. RhymeStyleTroop tags along for the guitar-driven “Ms. America” embracing their Mexican heritages leading into the spine-tingling “Trunk” getting in his hustler bag.

After the “Pst #2” skit, Sick Jacken comes into the picture for the dusty “Tom Fears” produced by Rhettmatic reminding everyone how they play just before the eerie “Paint Pictures” quenching for blood. “The Kuyas” with Big Twins finds the 2 over a piano-laced boom bap instrumental talking about keeping them open, but then “Ski Mask to Jet Skis” lavishly reflects on his life then & now.

The song “Turn Up the Volume” incorporates some colorless piano melodies so XP can get on his thug shit while the penultimate track “Old to New” talks about being a king & the beat on here is just petrifying to the core. However, “Frost Bitten” is a gully ass way to end the album from the horn-laced production to XP’s malicious lyricism.

I was very excited going into this given that I’ve been a fan of The Beat Junkies for a minute & how much I’ve enjoyed some of XP’s most recent projects. Needless to say: It’s some of the best shit he’s ever done considering how great the chemistry between him, D-Styles & Rhettmatic is. Purely raw penmanship & production from start to finish.

Score: 8/10