The Best of The Month – August 2023

The legend DJ Muggs (producer of Cypress Hill, for those who live on Jupiter) returns with the third chapter of the epic Soul Assassins saga. As a Grandmaster at the head of the Hashashin sect in Caliphate Persia, he carefully recruits his faithful assassins (from Ghostface Killah, Method Man, Slick Rick and Westside Gunn to Scarface, Ice Cube and MC Ren, via Roc Marciano, Rome Streetz, Boldy James, T.F., Freddie Gibbs and others) to carry out the missions he concocts, in the form of esoteric musical productions, thus executing the infidels and the scarce who degrade the sacred culture.

As a well enlightened cultural mogul as he is, Muggs entrusted the writing legend Chaz Bojorquez for the artwork of his album, thus taking a further step towards immortality.

Native of Cliffwood (New Jersey), Chase Fetti in “Blender Talk” offers us a condensation of pure street rap blended with raw beats (in Griselda style to be clear) and cut with the collaboration of some of the coldest street lyricists including Benny The Butcher, Conway The Machine, Rome Streetz, Cory Gunz and Tsu-Surf. If you are in abstinence of the finest Coke-rap, “Blender Talk” will not leave you disappointed.

Sha Hef drags us deep into the murky waters of the Bronx in New York with a project produced entirely by Canadian beatmaker Nicholas Craven, whose praises we have repeatedly sung in these pages. The flow and the grimey and shadowy voice of Sha – Hunnit Round – Hef like a whirlpool suck the listener into a nocturnal journey on the corners of New York streets, those that are not recommended for tourists. Of note are the collaborations of Jay Worthy and Rome Streetz that crown this excellent “Shark Tank“.

At first listening to “We Kill Everything We See”, album by the Italian-American rapper Pounds448 (available on digital platforms from July 28), one might have the vibes of finding himself in front of a movie like between Fargo and a mafia-movie, shot in the cold and gray streets of Rochester, a town in the state of New York near the Canadian border. Pounds, actually, with his narrative talent and the authenticity that distinguishes him, leads his listeners to relive the trials and tribulations of his life. Among the features are Flee Lord, Bub Styles, Max Marciano and Bless89.

Peckham, London rapper Giggs has achieved a status that very few in the history of the genre can boast on this side of the Atlantic. Talent, solidity and consistency have, in fact, guaranteed him over the years a secondary rank  almost only to King Charles in UK and international respect, regardless of commercial success. In fact, as demonstrated by his latest album Zero Tolerance in Giggs’ Rap, you will not find compromises and gimmicks to sell more, but bars and productions of a higher level, which few in the world can afford, of those who have made of coherence and seriousness their trademark. This is also demonstrated by the appearances of names like Diddy, Jadakiss, Dave East; 21 Savage, Potter Payper, Dave and others.

MALCOM X AVEC UN PARE-BALLES ( “Malcom X in a bulletproof vest” ) is the latest Ep released by the rapper from Bois De Bléville, Le Havre, in French Normandy. The “classic” style (complete with a tribute track to Ghostface Killah) and the powerful voice of the rapper pay homage to the historic leader of the African-American struggle, whose ideas and spirit are still very topical even in contemporary France.