This extended play was released on July 26th this year. I’m a pretty big fan of Ill Bill, but even though I really enjoyed his earlier album that came out this year, I honestly wasn’t that excited about this project. I mean, I was pretty sure it’d be good, but I also knew that it’d most likely just be more of the same. Ill Bill hasn’t really been getting too creative with his solo material ever since he dropped his magnum opus in 2013. I don’t think he’ll ever reach that level of greatness again. It pains me to say that, so I hope he proves me wrong some day. I just feel like he kinda went in a weird direction. Not necessarily in a bad way. His music has just kinda… I don’t know. It’s just weird to me that he’s basically turned into a white Sean Price, and he barely puts out any songs that don’t have at least one other featured artist. It’s like he’s said everything he has to say, so now he’s just having fun. That’s not necessarily a bad thing. It’s just not as likely for him to truly blow me away with his work now since he’s not really putting his heart and soul into every track. He can definitely still rhyme. It’s just that he’s become a little predictable. Anyway, let me go ahead and talk about this project in particular now. Before I listened to it, I wasn’t familiar with Sunday, who produced every single beat on this project. I think he did a great job with this project though. This project ended up being better than I was expecting it to be. There’s not a single track here that I didn’t like. I guess that’s not saying much since there are only four tracks here, but still. I’m very satisfied with this project. After hearing it, I’m honestly not really sure why I was so apprehensive in the first place. I mean, yeah there are a lot of features, but Bill’s still killin’ it. I do think that a more focused project from him in the future would be ideal, but this is still good. Anyway, the project starts off with Warlord, which is definitely my least favorite track.

The beat doesn’t really stand out that much to me because it’s just not that unique or creative, but it does sound like something Ill Bill would typically spit over. He fits over it really well. It’s the least impressive beat on the project, but it’s solid enough. The rapping from Bill is really what makes the song worth returning to in my opinion. He killed this shit.

A symbol of hope, but dressed in a cloak of hate
Baby Hitler with a poker face & a cobra’s taste
Conqueror; my enemies heads on top of spikes around my door
My sword sheath is the mouth of a whore

Unfortunately the sung hook from D.V. Alias Khryst kinda sucks to me, but it’s certainly not bad enough to ruin the song. I think the second verse from Bill is even better than the first.

The warlord with the uzi & the sawed off
Will have your fucking feet sawed off then watch you crawl off
Haha; ISIS & CIA kumbaya
I don’t give a fuck who I spray, I’ve already been paid
Became a killer aged thirteen
I remember the first time; I can still hear their screams

The song is pretty good—specifically in terms of the actual rapping from Bill. I just wish that the production was a bit more interesting and that the hook was better. I do like the song though. It’s just not as good as the others in my opinion. It’s followed by my favorite track on the project, Axe of Abraxas.

The beat on this song is fucking awesome, and Bill fucking slaughtered that first verse. That alone is enough to make it my favorite track.

My mind’s like coke and vodka mixed with post-apocalyptic
Soldiers armed with pistols
You don’t want the smoke, homie, mind your business

He rhymed his fucking ass off on this track. I wish he just rapped throughout the whole song instead of letting the features take over because he was ripping this verse to shreds.

Whispers of whistling apparitions
Decapitated black cats and pigeons
Now there’s rats inside your kitchen
Roaches in your microwave oven; they love it
The way you smother assorted bugs
All up in your bed sheets and covers
Disgusting and mortifying
The thought of dying somersaults across your mind
Then belly flop dives off the slide

Speaking of the features, I think the hook from Goretex is pretty solid. He changed his name to Lord Goat, which I’m not too crazy about. I guess Goretex isn’t that great of a name either. I’m just used to it, so I suppose that’s why it sounds better to me. Anyway, the second verse is performed by Sick Jacken. I’ve always considered him to be a pretty solid rapper, but he’s not someone I get too excited about. He did his thing on this track though. Again, I would’ve preferred if Bill rapped a second verse, but this shit is still fire. I think it’s dope af. The following song, Debbie Abono, is really fucking good too.

This is a Heavy Metal Kings song, and it did not disappoint. First of all, I just really love the dark beat that Sunday made for this track, and the first verse from Bill is great.

Die young, leave a fast corpse
Young Abraham Ford; legendary amongst the thrash lords
Crash-course in brain surgery; gang wars and murder sprees
Saints perform serpentry; paint the walls burgundy
I want all the smoke; I’ll burn for all eternity
After I’m gone the world will convert to me

Some times I forget how amazing Bill is at writing super dense multisyllabic rhymes. He murdered this shit.

Severed Heads of State, Cult Leader, crime scenes
Malachi Z, my Mobb’s Deep and my mind’s free
Illuminati tried to blind me, but I see
The CIA put LSD in the Visine
Same way they put the crack in the PJs
The devil’s dick got ’em all on their hook like T-Pain

I also really like the hook from Bill on this track. The record scratches that also come in are a really nice touch as well. The second verse from Vinnie Paz was pretty nice, but it’s far from one of his best verses. I think Bill had the better performance, but Vinnie still did his thing.

You don’t wanna rumble with mine
I will pick you motherfuckers off one at a time
It be head shots, homie; it’ll crumble your mind
It’s a reason that nobody tryna fuck with you, slime

The song is really dope. The final track is called Shoot First, Die Later. It’s a pretty interesting song sonically. The production is really chaotic and kind of strange. It kinda sounds like a Nu-Metal beat, except it’s not terrible. It’s one of the weaker tracks on the project in my opinion, but I do like it a lot. I think the verse from Goretex was pretty tight, although Bill obviously had the better performance. It’s pretty cool that nobody was able to outrap Bill on his own project. I honestly don’t think any of the features even came close. They weren’t bad though. Again, the song isn’t one of my favorites, but I do fuck with it. The over the top production was really cool, and the verses were dope. It’s a good song. 🙂

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As I said earlier, this ended up being far better than I was expecting it to be. Bill killed all of his verses here, and the production from Sunday was really cool too, aside from the opening song. I think the most obvious critique anyone could have is that it just feels like a short collection of bonus tracks that happen to all be produced by the same person. I actually think I would’ve enjoyed this a lot more if it had less features. Again, the features aren’t bad at all. I just wanna hear Bill rap as much as possible because nobody came close to him—not even Vinnie. I’m very satisfied with this project, but I’m hoping Bill’s next full length album is more focused and has less features. This is a very good project though. I fuck with it.

Favorite Song: Axe of Abraxas
Least Favorite Song: Warlord

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