This album was released on May 21st this year. Mach-Hommy is an underground artist with whom I’ve had a pretty rocky past. I tried listening to his HBO album, but I couldn’t get through it because it was so fucking boring. That’s like one of the only times I’ve given up on an album before finishing it. I don’t remember how far I got. The only reason I’m even listening to this album in the first place is because I’m genuinely curious about it due to all the hype. I have heard features from Mach-Hommy in the past that blew me away, so I’m optimistic about this one. The features have me a little worried, but I think it’ll at least be decent.

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1. The 26th Letter produced by Denny LaFlare

I think the weird beat on this track is pretty cool. The melody of the horn loop just sounds kind of claustrophobic to me. I’ve heard rumors that Mach-Hommy ghostwrote Jay-Z’s verses on Jay Electronica’s A Written Testimony, so when I first heard Mach-Hommy rap on this track I couldn’t stop thinking about that. Not that I believe those rumors. I just think it’s fun to think about. I think Mach-Hommy has a much more interesting flow than Jay-Z does for the most part. He killed the first verse on this track.

They hate to see a dog ballin' like LaMelo
Sour amaretto, your heart made out of Jello
Pop-Tarts & marshmallow

One thing that always bothered me about Mach-Hommy is his oddly stubborn choice to not allow his lyrics to be posted on the internet. If you go to the Genius page for any of his albums, none of them are actually filled out with songs. Even when he’s featured on other people’s songs he doesn’t let people transcribe his bars. I don’t really understand why he doesn’t want people to know what he’s saying, but it is what it is I guess. Anyway, he actually sounded a lot like Mos Def on this track to me.

Hittin' them Prince notes
Miss me with insults
Since kinfolk was managin' dim folks
I been GOAT
"Mach-Hommy is an icon" end quote
This gon' be the year I get my python trench coat
Had to dumb it down on my slow 50 Cent flow
My whip talk for me, Bentley wheels been spoke

His flow is really nice, and he rhymed his ass off. I actually like the uncredited ad-libs from Westside Gunn in the background too. I even liked when he was talking shit during the break between Mach’s two verses. I think it sounds pretty cool. The second verse is even better than the first one in my opinion. He killed this track. I think it’s dope as hell.

2. No Blood No Sweat produced by Camouflage Monk

This is an okay track. I just don’t really think the beat from Camouflage Monk is that good to be honest. It’s kind of boring to me. Mach-Hommy killed the verse here though. The way he rhymes kinda reminds me of Roc Marciano.

They sayin’ that I’m top 1, more or less the best
Let’s travel through a vortex when GORE-TEX was a flex
Used to rock the 4x, I throw a hex, you vexed
Textin’ like a scorned ex while I’m gettin’ neck
Only concern is gettin’ more checks
Got some jungle gym gorilla heads that’s doin’ full reps
And if you want war niggas will bring it to your doorstep

Mach-Hommy’s performance here is great, but overall this track doesn’t really do much for me as a song. It doesn’t have any replay value for me personally, but I don’t think it’s bad at all. It’s certainly a listenable song. It’s just decent to me.

3. Folie Á Deux featuring Westside Gunn & Keisha Plum produced by Conductor Williams

This song along with the following two tracks were pretty exciting for me because I’m a big fan of Conductor Williams‘ production. I of course wasn’t let down. This track easily has the best beat up to this point on the record. It’s far more detailed than either of the preceding instrumentals. I actually think the opening verse from Westside Gunn on this track is pretty good too. It’s definitely not up to snuff with Mach-Hommy’s better performances on this album, but I still dug it more than I expected to. I typically find Keisha Plum’s Spoken Word features to be pretty lame, but I didn’t mind her too much here. I think they found a good way to fit her into the song and make her contribution feel more like an intermission. Mach-Hommy’s verse here isn’t as good to me as the ones from the preceding couple of tracks, but I still think he did his thing. If somebody told me it was a wack verse I wouldn’t argue, but I personally didn’t think it was bad. I just wasn’t really crazy about the way he was flowing to be honest, but the rhymes were on point. My favorite aspect of this track is easily the production. I think the song is really dope overall.

4. Makrel Jaxon produced by Conductor Williams

This track has a really pretty sample-based beat. The song itself has a really straightforward structure. It’s not too different from No Blood No Sweat to be honest. The main difference is that I actually dig the production here. I think I would’ve liked this track a lot more if the song structure wasn’t so simplistic, but the verse here from Mach-Hommy is good enough to keep me entertained. I think it’s a good track overall, although definitely not a highlight.

5. The Stellar Ray Theory produced by Conductor Williams

This track was released as a single prior to the full album if I’m not mistaken. It’s got another one of the best beats on the project. In fact, I’d say it’s better than any of the instrumentals that precede it. I love how dark and smokey the jazzy production here is. That saxophone loop is smooth as hell. Mach-Hommy’s lyricism seems way more focused here too.

The sun could never be pussy, he always come out
But some days he nowhere to be found, know what I'm talkin' 'bout?
Made it through the fires, it was some drought
But the way that shit comin' down, it's like the rain could never run out
Unlimited drops like sneaker spots, got shoes for days
Got niggas that's workers who could really use the raise

That “raise / rays” double entendre was fire. This is the first song on the album with an actual hook, and it’s pretty good. I think the second verse is even better than the first one.

All this rain gon' make it harder for them
It's only so long fake thugs can pretend
Nigga, you ain't live it, you witnessed it from your folks' pad
You scribbled in your notepad, created your life
Never was impressed with lyrical matters
My shit built upon the backs of pure facts and empirical data
While strategizing, chill out with the categorizing
You niggas spend way too much time fraternizing

He killed this track. I don’t have any complaints. I think this shit is dope as hell.

6. Marie produced by Cee Gee

I really love the flowery, melodic production on this track. This song kinda reminds me of something CJ Fly would do. Their voices are kinda similar to me. The first verse is pretty nice, and I love the surprisingly melodic hook. The second verse is super well written.

Any situations bound to see my boo maneuver well
You can tell that she the shit just by the way she do her nails
She used to workin' retail; me, I did street sales
Workin' 'til the beat fails, rain, snow, sleet, hail
Hallucinatin', saw a mirage that didn't seem real
But every time I heard the voice of god it was a female

The line in the hook where he says “Mama told me never stop until I bust a nut” was kinda weird to me, but it’s not really an issue. I think the song is really dope overall. The melodic production is great, and same goes for Mach-Hommy’s rapping.

7. Leta Yo (Skit)

This is a pretty pointless skit in which a bunch of kids yell some stuff I can’t understand because it’s not in English. Since I can’t understand it, I got nothing out of this track. I just found the child’s voice to be a little grating, so the song did nothing but annoy me. I’m not gonna pretend to have a huge issue with this track, but I’m never gonna listen to it again.

8. Kriminel produced by Nicholas Craven

Remember how I said HBO put me to sleep? I actually did fall asleep around this track on my first listen of the album, but it’s not because of the music. I was just already tired. Anyway, I think Nicholas Craven‘s production on this track is pretty great. The sample sounds really warm and comforting. It kinda reminds me of Family Business by Kanye West. The first verse from Mach-Hommy is cool, but it’s actually his sung outro that stands out to me the most. It sounds shockingly good. The additional female vocals that come on in the background sound nice too. It’s a really nice way to end the track. Again, the verse is cool, but far from my favorite on the album.

9. Pen Rale produced by Sadhugold

Sadhugold delivered one of the better beats on the album with this track in my opinion. I think the production here is dope as hell. The song as a whole doesn’t really stand out that much though just because of the simplistic structure. There’s just one quick, albeit good verse from Mach-Hommy, and then he starts shouting about how he’s really important. As a complete song it just isn’t really that engaging. However, I can’t deny that the verse here is nice, and I do love the beat. The song is pretty good.

10. Murder Czn featuring Westside Gunn produced by Camouflage Monk

I didn’t care for the first beat that Camouflage Monk contributed to this album, but he really redeemed himself here. It’s nice to get some hard-hitting drums since most of the preceding few songs were lacking that. The beat sounds really dreamy. I could see someone like ScHoolboy Q killing this beat. The first minute of the song is taken up by Mach-Hommy singing “MuRdEr SeAsOn AgAiN” along with some ad-libs from Westside Gunn. The first verse comes from Westside Gunn, and it’s pretty solid. Mach-Hommy definitely stole the show though. I love his weird melodic delivery. I don’t think the verse is amazing or anything, but it kept me entertained. Overall, I think the song is really dope.

11. Magnum Band featuring Tha God Fahim produced by Messiah Musik

I think the beat from Messiah Musik on this track is pretty great, and the first verse from Mach here is fantastic.

Catchin' stray bullets, I know that shit stingin'
Y'all seen the Dr. Dre footage, I keep them heads ringin'
Speakin' foul on Mach name? What the fuck you thinkin'?
I'll put that biscuit to your tee like it's England
Ain't no damn digestives or fuckin' triscuits
Runnin' up will only get your head split, I wouldn't risk it

The hook isn’t really anything special to me, and the second verse from The God Fahim is about as painfully mediocre as every other verse he’s ever performed. The song ends super abruptly too. I do like this track to some extent though. The production is great, and the first verse from Mach-Hommy is tight. I unfortunately don’t care for the hook or the second verse, but they’re not particularly bad enough to ruin the song for me. I think this track is pretty good.

12. Rami featuring Westside Gunn produced by Camouflage Monk

This track easily has my favorite beat out of all the instrumentals that Camouflage Monk provided to this album. I love how dark it is, and the drums sound fantastic. I actually really like the way Westside Gunn & Mach-Hommy traded bars on this track too. They sound surprisingly good together. This is probably my favorite feature on the album from Westside Gunn, which I suppose isn’t really saying that much, but still. He sounds good. They both rapped pretty well here. I think the song is dope.

13. Kreyol (Skit)

This is a pretty pointless skit in which some guy is interviewed by some woman about Haitian creole. I got absolutely nothing out of this skit, and I’m never gonna listen to it again.

14. Au Revoir featuring Melanie Charles produced by DJ Green Lantern

This is one of the most complete sounding songs on the project. The grandiose production from DJ Green Lantern is fantastic, and the sung hook from Mach-Hommy is pretty catchy. The guest vocals from Melanie Charles are gorgeous too. She easily had the best feature on the whole album in my opinion. I couldn’t understand what she was saying, but her voice sounded amazing to me. The actual verse from Mach-Hommy is fire too. That line about shooting a nigga twice like Moderna is amazing.

Makin' sure that everybody and they mama heard of Mach-Hommy
Top earner, popped the burner, shot that nigga two times like Moderna
Then returned to the Zoloft, forever go hard
White ho said my leather's so soft

Again, this is one of the only tracks on the album that feels like a fully fleshed out song, and that’s with just one verse from Mach himself. It’s kind of a slow burn, but it pays off. I think the song is dope as hell.

15. Blockchain produced by Camouflage Monk

The beat on this track is pretty nice, although not really a favorite of mine. This track lacks that sense of completeness that I was talking about with the preceding track. It’s mainly due to the simplistic song structure. There’s just one verse on this track followed by a somewhat uninteresting hook, and then the track ends. It just feels like there was less effort put into this track than some of the others. With that said, I do think that Mach-Hommy had one of his better performances on the mic here. The song is pretty good.

16. Ten Boxes – Sin Eater produced by Denny LaFlare

This track has my favorite beat on the whole album. I’m not really familiar with Denny LaFlare, but I think the beat he delivered here is legitimately amazing. I love it. The rapping from Mach-Hommy is pretty dope, but it’s mainly the production that stood out to me on this song. Once again, the structure of this song is really straightforward. Mach is just rapping the whole time, so there’s not much going on. The verse is dope though. I like the song. It’s just that there’s not anything pushing it to the next level of dopeness for me. That’s fine though. It’s still a dope track.

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^{This album is very good. I enjoyed this more than I ever expected to enjoy a Mach-Hommy project, so I’m glad I actually checked it out and gave it a chance. It’s far from the dopest thing I’ve heard this year, but I think it’s way better than Westside Gunn’s Pray for Paris album. The main gripe I have with this project is that some of the song simplistic structures left certain tracks feeling a bit undercooked. Aside from that, I got nothing from the skits, and the features for the most part didn’t blow me away. However, none of that can take away from the dopeness of Mach’s rapping or how good some of these beats are. Again, I’m glad my curiosity drove me to check this album out because I enjoyed it. It’s very good.}

Favorite Song: The Stellar Ray Theory
Least Favorite Song: No Blood No Sweat

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Watch the videos below for more thoughts on this album.