This extended play was released on May 3rd this year. I’ve never actually listened to a project from Manolo Rose. In fact, I’ve only really heard one song from him, and it’s because it was remixed by someone else. The song I’m talking about is Run Ricky Run. That shit is fire. I usually listen to OG Maco’s remix of it though. You might not know about that song, but if Manolo Rose’s name sounds familiar, it’s probably because of Troy Ave. I’m pretty sure All About the Money is Troy Ave’s biggest song, but what’s funny is that the song is also a remix. It was originally by Manolo Rose if I’m not mistaken. That’s who you hear on the hook. I wouldn’t consider myself a fan of Manolo Rose, but obviously I’m checking this out for a reason. I wanna give him a chance. I haven’t heard enough of his work to decide whether he’s good or not. He’s definitely not bad at making hooks, so I think I might like this project. I’m not gonna get my hopes up too high though. I guess I should also mention 183rd. I mostly know him for his work with Smoke DZA. I never actually listened to those Ringside collaborative extended plays that he did with DZA. If I’m super impressed by his production here I might give them a shot. Just like with Manolo, I don’t think I’ve heard enough of his work to say whether or not I’m a fan. I think he produced that song 27 Club by Smoke DZA though, and I think that beat’s amazing. Hopefully the production on this project is just as good.

1. On God

The beat on this track is okay. It’s pretty repetitive. I’m not really crazy about Manolo’s shouty delivery on this song. It’s not bad though. The first verse was okay. The hook is kinda catchy. His flow on the third verse is kinda cool. Huh. This is decent I guess. Nothing about it really stands out. It’s pretty generic. The repetitive instrumental gets old really quickly. Manolo’s delivery is kind of annoying too. I don’t really like anything about this track. The hook’s kinda cool but other than that this is very underwhelming. It’s not bad though. It’s just not something I’d ever wanna hear again. It’s decent.

2. Baleedat

Ehhhh… I can already tell I’m not gonna like this project. The beat on this track is kinda cool, but I’m not a fan of the way Manolo raps. This sounds like it was meant to be played in a club or something. His flow is boring. The lyrics are generic as hell too.

I don’t think you want none
Pack this shit out and watch the whole club run
Once you gettin’ money, nigga, watch the haters come
Two-steppin’ off beat; a nigga kinda drunk

I don’t really like anything about this song to be honest. Nothing about Manolo’s performance did anything for me, and once again the production gets old very quickly. I think this is a little worse than the previous track. I still don’t think I would call it bad, but it’s certainly not good. It’s mediocre to me.

3. G’d Up

Huh. I just found out that Manolo Rose is apparently signed to Roc Nation. That’s weird. I mean… I guess it isn’t that weird. Roc Nation doesn’t really have a consistent roster. It has some really dope artists like Rapsody & Jarren Benton, but they also have trash artists like Lil Uzi Vert & DJ Khaled. Out of the 103 musicians listed on the “Artists” page of the Roc Nation website, I only really like about 12 of them. Anyway, 183rd sampled Nas’ Street Dreams for this track. The beat’s pretty good. Manolo’s delivery on this track is annoying as fuck. The way he’s yelling sounds ridiculous. I kinda like it though. It sounds so dumb. It’s really only the intro where it sounds too over the top though. It’s more tolerable after the first recital of the hook. I don’t know whose vocals those are on the hook. They sound good. Huh. I actually kinda like this. The way Manolo’s yelling sounds so stupid that I can’t help but enjoy it. The way he says “G’D UP!!!!” sounds dumb as hell, but it’s funny. It kinda sounds like he’s doing a slight Pac impression. The actual rapping is pretty solid. It’s pretty standard shit, but it sounds good over this beat. I actually like this one. It’s funny to me. His over the top delivery was entertaining. I think this one is good.

4. Missed Calls

The beat on this track is kinda cool. The first verse was alright. I liked the line about how he was with a girl whose fat ass didn’t match her legs. That was kinda funny. The hook is alright I guess. Nothing about this song really stands out. Manolo’s flow is really average. Overall the song is just really uninteresting. I think it’s an okay track, but there isn’t a single aspect of it that I actually enjoyed. The beat gets old pretty quickly. It’s not a bad song, but it has zero replay value for me. It’s just okay to me.

5. Stressed Out

Oh noo… Yeah, this is not for me at all. I don’t care for the generic Trap beat at all. I knew I was gonna hate this song as soon as I heard those female vocals say this…

I ain’t goin’ crazy, big daddy, I just need dick

This is fucking terrible. This kinda thing just doesn’t appeal to me at all. I think he was trying to make a song specifically for strip clubs. There are certain aspects of it that make me feel like that wouldn’t work though. For example, at one point in the first verse Manolo says something about babies crying, and they included the sound of an actual baby crying in the background. Oh my God. The line I quoted above is actually part of the hook, so you hear it multiple times throughout the song. This is easily the worst song on the project so far. The hook is absolutely unbearable. There’s not a single aspect of this song that I actually like. This shit is wack af.

6. Motivation

This beat is actually really dope. This is definitely my favorite beat on the project so far. Hmm… I just listened to the whole song. I’m gonna be honest; Manolo really didn’t add much to this song for me. I liked the beat, and Manolo wasn’t actually bad. He just didn’t impress me at all. His flow was decent though, and there wasn’t a terrible hook like there was on the previous track. I guess I appreciate the content too. If you’re a broke ass dude from the hood, something like this’ll probably lift your spirits.

If you’re feelin’ down, don’t let it break you
I was doin’ bad, man I could’ve hated
That ain’t how a real nigga gon’ play it
Here’s what you do: stay humble, remain patient
This is hood nigga motivation

That’s nice. Yeah, I fuck with this song. None of the lyrics really stuck with me, but I liked the hook, and the production is dope. This is another good song.

7. Conspiracy

Oh my fucking god. Noooo. NOOOO. I should’ve known this song would be some bullshit when I saw the title. This dude is literally rapping about how he thinks there’s an agenda to emasculate black men. I can’t fucking take this shit. I was not expecting to hear a song like this. Jesus fucking Christ. This is actually hilarious to be honest.

Black men in dresses is what they really love
They can’t wait for him to menstruate
If you think this homophobic let me demonstrate
He only five, he wanna dress, he like to emulate
When your genes could genetically annihilate
The only way you combat that is turn them niggas gay

This dude is a fucking idiot lmao. I can’t believe there are people that actually think like this. This is easily one of the worst songs I’ve heard all year. It might actually be the second worst song. It’s slightly better than Straight White Male by Tom MacDonald, and slightly worse than Earth by Lil Dicky. This song is pure dogshit, and I’ve lost a lot of respect for Manolo Rose. I mean, it’s not like I thought super highly of him before. I was just indifferent towards him. Now I see that he’s a fucking idiot though. This shit is insufferable.

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This was a mistake. I should not have listened to this shit. This shit is bad. I’ve been pretty good at avoiding projects that I don’t think I’ll like this year, so this is definitely one of the worst things I’ve heard in 2019. Again, that’s not saying much because I haven’t heard that much bad music so far. This shit is wack though. Manolo Rose is pretty mediocre as a rapper. His flows are basic as hell, and his lyrics are generic & uninteresting. That would be bad enough, but it turns out he’s a complete fucking idiot too. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing when I played that final track. 183rd didn’t really bother me on this project. His beats were pretty average for the most part. Manolo Rose just isn’t very good to me at all. I liked a couple tracks on this project. I didn’t love any of them. I think I’m gonna steer clear of this dude’s music in the future unless I happen to hear a single that I really love. This shit is wack.

Favorite Song: G’d Up
Least Favorite Song: Conspiracy

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