This album was released on January 28th this year. Bloodmoney Perez is an artist with whom I’m only slightly familiar. I covered his A Hundred Disorders EP last year, and I loved it, so I’m hoping my listening experience with this new album will have a similar outcome. I think he’s a really great writer, so I’m probably gonna dig this record. I’m also a fan of Messiah Musik‘s production, and there are also some promising features on this project. In all honesty, I’m expecting this to be one of the best albums of the month. I’m really excited for this.

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The opening track is actually produced by Iceberg Theory. It’s entitled Rest 6, and it features an artist named Solar Five. I actually think this track has the best beat I’ve ever heard from Iceberg Theory. It’s really dope. The first verse from Bloodmoney is fire, and I really like the hook too.

No one showed me how to walk, I just did
No one showed me shit, I had to learn how to live
Surprised I'm alive after all that ill shit
Never stationary, gotta run a rest 6

Again, I wasn’t familiar with Solar Five before hearing this song, but I actually think he killed this track.

I'm tired of these big headed Yakubian niggas
Self hatin', medicatin' with Peruvian sniffers
True to religion, kufi cocked niggas shot, but not who was intended
Blind eyes get cuffed and turned to a witness
Murder the sentence, further extended
Then the Earth in the distance
I hold hurt in a prism, you hold hurt 'til you bitter
Nigga, straight up out the swamp, but I'm clean as an angel's robe
Ridin' dirty with the stainless pole
Had the world in my hands, but I ain't save it though

I think I misquoted a couple of those lines, but it is what it is. I did my best to transcribe them accurately. Anyway, I think this song is really goddamn dope. The production is great, and the lyricism from both MCs on this track had me hooked. The following song is called Binary Code. The production from Messiah Musik on this track is pretty awesome, and Bloodmoney killed the first verse.

Slap boxin' with Vishnu, so what's your issue?
Seen the art get official, then twist your tissues
Simulation theory holdin' pistols
Nothing's real, nihilism is government issued
If the dunce cap fits you on the block, and a mask I can spit through
Surface to air missiles, won't dare miss you
Father fields on the square, unity is not really there
Vulcanized machines on a tear, tryna seek control in here
How the hell'd I get here from my origin year?
That's not really clear

This song’s also got a pretty good hook. The second verse is really great too. I think this song is dope. I don’t have any gripes with it. The following track is the first real highlight for me. It’s entitled Take It in Blood, and it seems to be inspired by the Nas song of the same name. There was also a nice MF DOOM reference, and I think he even referenced the first Cannibal Ox album. There were also references to Redman’s best album, as well as The Pharcyde’s debut project.

Like Olu Dara's offspring in a cross beam
Flipping through words with an off swing
Worlds cold and frosting
Cold veins, ventricles and nerves
Fabrics I established, shawl cling to you like special herbs
Villain, born for a killing, raised on a feelin'
Made it, want it like that, I gave you power
Now you're buried alive like Red on the Darkside
Boxcar conductors navigating through bizarre rides

Also, as soon as the beat dropped on this track I got the coveted involuntary head nod. The beat is fire. The hook is really good too, and I think the second verse is even better than the first one. The song is dope as hell. However, the following track is even better. The beat is super dark and grimy. It sounds a lot like something Conway the Machine would rhyme over. The first verse from Bloodmoney is really nice, but it’s honestly the second verse from Defcee that pushes this song to the next level for me. That’s one of the best verses I’ve heard this year, and I doubt that I’ll feel any differently on December 31st.

Half man, half animal like Inuyasha
Fix your aura 'cause that walk you talk doesn't fit your posture
Style rich as flippin' pharmaceutical stocks
Crew on the block in cyphers movin' cliques off the strip like intifadas
Name taken in vain like they writin' with its blood
When the outlook was dimmer than the lighting in the club
But even down bad, knew that I would get a dub
Like OJ watching Johnnie Cochran tightening his glove

His writing is of course very good, but a big part of why I enjoyed his verse so much is just his voice and delivery. He sounds so fucking good when he raps. His voice is just really commanding. He raps like an angry father admonishing his child. This is one of the best songs on the album to me. I think it’s dope af. The following track, Price on My Head, has a much lighter, more melodic instrumental that I like a lot. It’s the shortest song on the album, so there’s just time for one verse, but it’s very good.

Trapped in purgatory, 'nother chapter for the story
What has passed is nothin' for me
That road been walked, my soul been lost, I won't be false
Yeah, I won't be false, have no other recourse
It's chips all in, house can't win, that's not how it's gon' end
I won't pretend I could've been, I wouldn't bend to settle again
I'm just settlin' in, and mastered my pen
The past is pretend, just ashes in the wind

It’s a really good song, although not one of my favorites on the album. I really fuck with it though. The following track is entitled Samo, and it seems to take some inspiration from Basquiat, who’s pretty much my favorite visual artist next to Kerry James Marshall. I really love the jazzy production on this track. I think the beat is fire honestly. The whole song is pretty much just one verse from Bloodmoney Perez, and it’s great.

The choices and the voices in my ears whisper poison
The dead travel fast, only seconds to destroy them
And fuck your essence if your methods seem disjointed
Fuck your price tags if the people can't afford it

It’s not necessarily a highlight for me on the album, but I still think it’s really dope. I fuck with it. It’s followed by Hades, which has one of the darker beats on the album. I’m honestly not crazy about the production on this track, and the hook doesn’t really do much for me either. However, the actual rapping is just really goddamn great, so that thankfully keeps the song interesting for me. I mean, I definitely like the beat to an extent, but it’s probably my least favorite instrumental on the album. The song is good though. I like it. It’s followed by a highlight entitled Ghost in the Lobby. I really love the melodic, jazzy production here, and Bloodmoney killed it.

It's guilt in my gut, strain on my valves
No wonder my blood pressures high as buildings in Seattle
Every wake up is a battle, scam with straight and narrow
Keep my cool, leave these motherfuckers disemboweled
Gray sky body keep my soul up out the shadows
So I spit like the sun's 'bout to burn every vowel

I think this track has some of the best lyricism on the album honestly. The hook is really good too. There’s really nothing that I don’t like about this song. I think it’s dope as hell. The following track is even better. It’s entitled No Plan B, and it’s got another really gorgeous, jazzy instrumental. This might be my favorite track on the album honestly. I love the beat so much, and the rapping is fire. I love the opening line on this track.

I ain't never met a space I couldn't suck the air from

The hook is really good too, and the second verse from Iceberg Theory is phenomenal.

I was sold a deed
The ecological crisis reflected the soul's disease
On Earth, and forced the scarcity, there's really no need
So most couldn't imagine human nature nor greed
If God wills me, was my motive really free?

The following track is another strong contender for my favorite song on the album too though. It’s called The Prey, and it’s got a glorious instrumental. I love this beat so much. Once again, I got the coveted involuntary head nod as soon as it came on. The first verse from Bloodmoney is great too, and I of course fuck with the sentiment of eating the rich and feeding the meek. The song was already really goddamn great, but then Rich Jones came in for the second verse and pushed it to the next level for me. I love the melodic delivery he employed, and his lyricism was great too. I’ve heard a couple features from him in the past, but this is the most he’s ever impressed me. I have to say, every single feature on this album really came through for Bloodmoney. This shit is fire. The song is dope af. Track 11 is another highlight entitled What I Became. I really love the jazzy production here, and Bloodmoney killed it. His poetic lyricism had me hooked throughout the entire track.

Jackson Pollock in the room swinging pain
It's Keith Elam on the corner with his name in chains
It's Zack De La tryna channel all his rage
It's all I had until it's what I became

The song’s got a very straightforward structure, so I don’t have too much to say about it. Everything is just really well done. I’m not sure what I’m more impressed by between the lyrics and the production. It’s dope as hell. The penultimate track is called True Blood, and it’s got one of the weirder beats on the album.

I really like it though. This track also has some of the coolest imagery on the album in my opinion. It’s pretty much just one long verse, which is cool. This isn’t really a highlight for me on the album, but I still really like it. I think it’s dope. The closing track is entitled As the Earth Gently Weeps, and it’s another one of my favorite tracks on the album. I think the production here is really pretty. As always, I was hooked by Bloodmoney Perez’s lyricism here.

As the Earth gently weeps
Another body dead in the streets, and I can't sleep
Another sip of the drink, and the man sinks
As the Earth gently weeps, as the Earth gently weeps
Nothing is ever what it was
Lies cover our eyes like shutters or blood
Lost on a path, runnin' through mud
Stuck in a space where it's death or love

I appreciate the more laid back soundscape here, along with the looser song structure. Again, this is another highlight for me on the album. I think it’s dope as hell.

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^{This is one of the best albums I’ve heard this year. Messiah Musik’s production here is top notch, and I was hooked by every verse that Bloodmoney Perez had to spit. As I said in the body of this review, every feature came through with a really great performance as well. I really don’t have any consistent gripes with this project. It’s just really goddamn good. If you like abstract Hip Hop you need to check this project out. It’s a must-hear album for 2022 as far as I’m concerned. It’s dope as hell. Don’t sleep on it.}

Favorite Song: No Plan B
Least Favorite Song: HAdes

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