Let That Mac Rip: August/September Reviews

Let The Mac Rip: The Tail-End of September Music Reviews

Hello guys. As one month ends and another begins, I look back on the last few projects that came out in September including Drake, The Internet, The Foreign Exchange, and Audio Push. Go check it out.

Album Review: Chief Keef – Finally Rich

Artist: Chief Keef

Album: Finally Rich

Release Date: December 18, 2012

Record Label: Interscope/Glory Boys Entertainment

Album Review: The xx – Coexist

Album Review: Jessie Ware – Devotion

Random Axe Album Review

Random Axe Album Cover (2011)

2011 has been a year of indifference and variety, as Hip-Hop has expanded (or what many would believe, degraded) their sound over of the years with new concepts and creativity. Still, there are those that would rather stick to the traditional ways of the genre based on lyricism and the boom-bap head nodders. No matter which style is preferred, many should know that quality is ever present no matter what.

In comes Random Axe: The collaborative efforts of Detroit’s Black Milk and Guilty Simpson, and Brownsville resident MC, Sean Price. The trio made some rounds together in the 2008 Ode To The Ghetto track “Run” and later “Monster Babies”, furthering the thought of a full-length album with the three. Backed with the release from Duck Down Records and the single “The Hex”, the dream finally came to full fruition after 3 years.

Produced entirely by Black Milk, he continues to reinvent himself with some of his best work since Tronic or The Preface. An incredible highlight is the Roc Marciano-assisted “Chewbacca”, with Price pulling no punches with how the Hip-Hop game is going now with “Niggas’ rap albums sound like love letters” , over a complex and exuberant synths. The features on here consisted mostly of the Detroit Underground (Melanie Rutherford, Fat Ray, Fatt Father, Trick Trick, and Danny Brown) and one Boot Camp Clik representative in Heltah Skeltah’s Rock on “Another One”. Guilty and P complemented their styles well here, creating a solid one-two punch to cover their flaws as versatile wordsmiths. Black Milk also gets involved with the bars on a few tracks despite handling the production for many of the tracks and the former two also receive two solo tracks on their own (“Never Back Down” and “Karate Kid” respectively).

This is as good as a Hip-Hop album anyone could ask for this year, though it feels that there is something missing. Clocking a little over 40 minutes, this album was straight to the point and less is more worked for the better, as it will have their fans begging for more in the long run.

Overall: 8/10

Highlight Tracks:

• “Chewbacca”
• “Everybody Nobody Somebody”
• “Jahphy Joe”
• “Monster Babies”