June 2024
Monthly Reviews | June 2024
With June rapped up, we received more projects from various artists, both underground and more mainstream artists. At the beginning of the month we finally received a brand new album from Ski Mask the Slump God. Six years since his last album, Stokeley, which was an energetic, unique and creative album, did he deliver another good album? Towards the end of the month and on the 28th June, we received three brand new projects from a range of rappers. Boldy James, Lupe Fiasco and Megan Thee Stallion all dropped their respective projects out on the same day. Find out below how each of them fared out.
Ski Mask The Slump God — 11th Dimension
Release Date — 7th June
The brand new album from Florida rapper, Ski Mask the Slump God, finally arrived after a six year wait for a brand new album and a three year wait since his Sin City mixtape. Coming out and making a name for himself during the so called “mumble rap” era, Ski Mask stood out from the crowd by being incredibly animated, unique and simply making great bangers. His 2018 album, Stokeley, showcased his talent and it was exciting to see his trajectory. Though coming out with a mixtape in 2021, for quite a while and for whatever personal reason Ski Mask musically kept a low profile, most likely due to dealing with the heartbreak of losing two fellow peers and close friends within just over a year, that being XXXTentacion in 2018 and Juice WRLD in 2019.
11th Dimension is a 21 track LP, and simply put it’s quite a hit and miss project. For every good track that reminds listeners as to why Ski Mask was an exciting new artist in the latter 2010s, there are tracks that fall short and do come across as filler. I think within the album you do have a solid EP or short album. From the album, tracks like “By Myself”, “Earwax”, and the lead single “Shibuya” and great tracks. The consist of really good hard hitting production, and Ski Mask’s delivery and flow matches really well with the instrumentals. The first song off the album, “DragonTooth”, might be the best song from the whole album, as it immediately has you head bopping. Whilst, Corbin easily has the best feature and delivers great vocals on the album’s final track, “Go”.
Those are just a few examples of the good tracks from the album, however the other songs sadly miss the mark and don’t have me rushing back. “Monsters Inc.” featuring Future, sounds like any general Future-esque Trap song from the mid-2010s. Though I mention some of the album’s better production choices, there bad ones also, for example “Frozen One” and “Him Jung Un”. There are also many songs that aren’t bad, but as mentioned above they come across as just filler and don’t have me coming back to them, this includes the likes of “Full Moon”, “Hulk” and “From Yard” featuring Skillibeng.
Whilst, Stokeley was a really enjoyable album and songs such as “Catch Me Outside” were catchy bangers, Ski Mask hasn’t reached those heights since. Along with 11th Dimension, his Sin City mixtape was also a disappointment. 11th Dimension is a much better project and is an improvement from the mixtape, however after six years without a solo album I do feel let down and empty handed from the LP.
Boldy James & Conductor Williams — Across The Tracks
Release Date — 28th June
After collaborations with the likes of The Alchemist, Real Bad Man and RichGains, Detroit very own Boldy James released a new rapper-producer collab album with acclaimed producer, Conductor Williams. Whilst, Boldy released phenomenal projects with the producers named above, his latest album with Conductor is arguably his best collaboration. Conductor sets up Boldy with some of the best instrumentals he has ever rapped on.
From top to bottom there are so many great tracks to choose from this short, but sweet LP. Some of the first great tracks from the album include “All Madden” featuring Bo Jack, and the smooth and laidback third track, “Flying Trapeze Act”. On the latter Boldy flexes his pen and lays down one of his best verses on the album with his second verse. With lines such as “brick of Sexyy Red, I just took that bi**h to Pound Town”. As previously mentioned, Conductor did a phenomenal job with the album’s production, again showing why he’s one of the best Hip-Hop producers currently around. Hailing from Kansas City, Conductor knew exactly what type of production to provide Boldy, and gave him beats that matched perfectly with his style and voice. This was shown on tracks such as “Lamp Shade” and “St Juliana”.
Across The Tracks is a damn near perfect album for anyone seeking or who enjoys modern boom-bap inspired Hip-Hop. You can hit play on the albums first track, “Terms & Conditions”, and let it play until the end, where it finishes off beautifully with the triumphant sonics of “Stamps In The Middle”. Though he has made great projects previously, so far this might be Boldy’s greatest project and he continues his amazing run of great releases.
Lupe Fiasco — Samurai
Release Date — 28th June
The new album from Chicago legend, Lupe Fiasco, is his ninth studio album. Twenty years on from his debut album, Food & Liquor. As he's done previously he releases his new project with a unique concept, with Samurai being inspired by the late great singer, Amy Winehouse, who sadly passed away back in 2011. The album is entirely produced by Soundtrackk, who has frequently worked with Kendrick Lamar.
Samurai’s intro showcases the clear influence that Winehouse has on the album, as first tracks tells the story of and up and coming Jazz singer, whilst the songs chorus is influenced by a voicemail that Winehouse sent to producer Salaam Remi, this was showcased in the Amy documentary. Produced by Soundtrackk, it's a great intro with a jazz inspired instrumental, which fits the song's theme. We have a great run of tracks mid way through the album between tracks four and six. Track five, “Headband No. 1”, is a song is inspired by the anime, Afro Samurai. On the show the person with the headband is considered the best fighter, but it causes that person to be a target. Lupe uses this for the theme of the song, how the main character tries to be the best battle rapper. On the second to last track, “Outside”, we have arguably the best track sonically, as Lupe drops an infectious chorus and Soundtrackk provides yet another brilliant instrumental.
Though the majority of the album is great, there are just a few slips and bumps on Samurai, the biggest one being the album’s second single, “Cake”. From a lyrical perspective, Lupe has no faults and as usual he is impeccable throughout the whole song and he flows really well. However, Lupe’s vocals on the chorus is unfortunately not the best and it also possesses one of the weaker beats on the whole album. “Mumble Rap” and the last track, “Til Eternity”, aren’t sonically as bad as “Cake”, however they are also not as good as the album’s best tracks. Though it must be mentioned that the theme and narration behind “Mumble Rap” is really interesting.
Overall, Samurai is another good album from the Chicago veteran and is also a good follow up to his previous outing, Drill Music In Zion, released back in 2022. Lupe is on a new run as he has had back to back good projects. From 2018’s DROGAS Wave to 2024’s Samurai. Though, personally I still believe Food & Liquor and The Cool are his best work. Two decades on from his debut album, it’s positive to see Lupe ageing gracefully in Hip-Hop.
Megan Thee Stallion — Megan
Release Date — 28th June
Now a few years into the game, Megan Thee Stallion has grown to become one of the biggest and most successful rappers of the last five years. With her third album, MEGAN, she again shows her ability to produce multiple catchy hit singles. With first single coming out back in November, Megan’s latest projects has produced three separate big singles. “Cobra” being the first, and then “Hiss” and Boa” following suit. Coming off the obvious win against Nicki Minaj back in January, Megan’s second single “Hiss” took aim at her critics and naysayers, and went number one on the charts becoming her second solo number one track.
All three singles from the album are great, and to start off with “Hiss” was the perfect way to start the album. The follow up track “Rattle” is also really good the production from frequent producer LilJuMadeDaBeat is a massive highlight on the track. “Otaku Hot Girl” is another highlight on the album and is a unique track from the Houston rapper, as Megan showcases her clear love for anime. The UGK assisted “Paper Together” consists of a great feature verse from legendary rapper Bun B and a respectable posthumous verse from Pimp C that fits well with song. On “Moody Girl”, Megan peels back the layers and shows a more vulnerable side, as she raps about loneliness and unfulfillment.
Though there are some good tracks from MEGAN, the album is a complete mixed bag with multiple songs that are either decent or underwhelming. There are a couple of features that weren’t great from the album, this includes Kyle Ricch on “B.A.S.”, who didn’t fit well, both flow and style wise. “Spin” with Victoria Monet was a very bland and generic song that tries to create a seductive vibe. “Where Them Girls At” follows the same formula and blueprint that Megan has become known for, a female centric braggadocios track. We’ve heard this type of song from Megan previously countless times before. From the production, lyrics to the flow there’s nothing really knew here, and it’s coming across quite boring and tiresome. On the other hand, “Worthy” stands out as it is quite different from the production and style, but it doesn’t mean it’s a great track.
MEGAN overall is a better record in comparison Megan’s previous album, Traumazine, however as mentioned previously it’s a mixed bag with some highlights. Now a few years into her career, it’s great to see the success that Megan is having, especially after the many obstacles she has faced from the passing of her mother to the situation with Tory Lanez. However, I must admit that though there are moments where Megan steps out of her comfort zone, she is starting to come across quite one dimensional and repetitive. Though she shows moments of vulnerability, it would be interesting to see her become more comfortable and do that more on her projects, instead of the same braggadocios trap-inspired tracks that we have heard many times before.