This is the 39th EP from from Atlanta emcee/producer Tha God Fahim. Coming up as an affiliate of Griselda Records alongside Mach-Hommy & Your Old Droog, he’s also built up an incredibly vast discography with a couple of standouts being Breaking Through tha Van Allen Belts & Dump Assassins. Now the last time I covered Fahim’s work was when he dropped his 19th full-length album 6 Ring Champ & the final installment of the Shot Clock King trilogy of EPs produced by Nicholas Craven shortly after last spring, but is reuniting with Griselda in-house producer Camoflauge Monk to drop Dark Shogunn Assassin following the NicoJP-produced Chess Moves only a few days prior.

“Gristle” is a jazzy boom bap opener with Fahim rapping about how the dumpin’ won’t stop until he says as well as bringing the pain similar to that of Method Man & asking who the boogeyman of this rap shit really is. Estee Nack of the Tragic Allies also happens to pop up during the 2nd half of the song to lay down the EP’s only guest verse & he absolutely obliterates it, raising my expectations for Nacksaw Jim Duggan even higher than it already was when Westside Gunn announced it on Twitter a month ago already. The penultimate track “Sword n Shields” blends some kicks & snares with these low-register synthesizers so he can treat his pen like a blade moonwalking over MCs as if the late King of Pop himself Michael Jackson came back from the dead & advising that you can lead a horse to the pond, but can’t make them drink. “Never Back Down” finishes it all off on a more mellow note with Fahim talking about being up for any challenge that’s brought to him & coming up from the struggle.

Blvk Pearl, it’s sequel, Iron Monkey, Iron Monkey: Dump Olympics & Only God Can Judge Me are all essential Fahim projects in my book so my expectations going into this EP were significantly higher than Chess Pieces as a result of that. Needless to say, they did it again with Dark Shogunn Assassin. Yeah it’s only 3 tracks running at 9 minutes, but don’t let that scare you from thinking that Camoflauge Monk’s raw production & Fahim’s elevated lyricism make it more than worth your while because they really never miss whenever they join forces.

Score: 8/10

This is the 2nd EP from Queens emcee Bobby J from Rockaway. Coming up as a protege of Kwamé, he would begin to turn heads in the underground during the summer of 2019 off the strength of his full-length debut Summer Classics along with his Statik Selektah produced debut EP Endless Summer, the latter being my introduction to his music along with 1 Mic & a Drum’s eponymous EP. Bobby then joined forces with Detroit veteran Hush to drop the collab album 718 II 313 last summer, of which they had the honor of playing 80% of to me at a studio a year prior. But just about 6 months later, he’s enlisting NYC producer Nef behind the boards to drop Radio Days.

After the intro, the first song “From the Jump” with J57 finds the 2 over a triumphant boom bap instrumental describing their plot to expand prior to Street Smartz & Wais P assisting Bobby on the soulful “Leaving” declaring that they’re never putting down the mics. “Something Like” is a rap rock/boom bap hybrid paying tribute to all the b-boys out there just before “Mind, Body & Soul” comes through with a more mellow sound as Bobby & Michael Fiya talk about feeling the vibes. “1 Love” brings back the soul for the ladies while the 7182313 interlude reunites with Hush to show off their chemistry over a trunk knocking beat. The penultimate track “Fade Away” mixes a crooning sample with some keys & a country guitar talking about what’s gonna happen when the flame burns out while “The Hangover” is a bluesy closer detailing having too much to drink the night before.

Endless Summer still stands as my favorite EP that Bobby has ever done but to have Radio Days be his first solo effort in 3 years, I’ll still take it. Nef’s production is some of his most interesting to date as the sounds I don’t think I’ve ever heard Bobby experiment with in the past, but that’s what makes it exciting because it tells me that he’s continuing to grow as an artist. If this is only a precursor to a sophomore album, then it could very well end up being his best.

Score: 7/10