Don’t sleep on these 5 new albums from Teller Bank$. They were all released on April 6th this year. I was kind of caught off guard by these releases. I knew that Teller Bank$ had been teasing a “Skull Face” project, but I didn’t know it was five different full-length projects. However, I’m obviously a big fan of him since I put him in my Mt. Rushmore of current underground MCs, and he’s been on both of my year end album lists for the past two years, so I was pretty excited when I saw that he dropped these albums.
Anyway, only two of the albums are currently available on DSPs; the rest of the projects are only available for purchase on Bandcamp. I’m lucky enough to say that I’ve heard all of them, so I’m gonna write about each one in the order that I listened to them. Since this isn’t a full review, I’ll just write about a few highlights from each project.
The first album here is called Skull Face : 333. It’s available for streaming currently, although Teller Bank$ has said that he’s gonna take it off streaming eventually. You can purchase it for 20$ too. The first highlight for me is called Kitchen. I really like the dark, bouncy production here. I get the coveted involuntary head nod every single time I listen to it. I absolutely love how hostile the lyricism from Teller Bank$ is here too.
Slap a pussy nigga in the face, know I don't give a fuck
All these pussy niggas think they gang, them niggas think they us
I done seen a lot, boy, I done seen enough
Make a nigga day, call a nigga bluff
His flow is nice as hell, and I like his kind of melodic delivery too, even though I typically don’t care for that style. I think he sounds good doing it. The hook is pretty simplistic, but it serves it’s purpose well as a catchy break between the verses. I really like the way he flowed on that second verse too, especially towards the end. It kinda sounded like a freestyle, but a really good one. The song is dope. The next track I wanna talk about is called Same Thing, and it features two artists with whom I was previously unfamiliar named Sqvce & Chico McGee. This track has arguably the coolest beat on the whole album. It’s really dope. Oh, he self-produced this entire project by the way. I almost forgot to mention that. Anyway, the first verse from Teller is fire, and same goes for the hook. His flow is fantastic. He reminds me a lot of Lil Wayne here. That’s a comparison that I never really put together before listening to this album, but it felt like a no-brainer once things finally clicked. I mostly like this song for Teller Bank$’s performance, but the features were solid as well. It’s a dope song. The closing track is entitled 214 Freestyle. I love the traditional production style on this song, and I think this might actually have Teller Bank$’s best rap performance on the whole album.
Still gettin' money everyday, goofy bitch, get out my face, I can't waste no time
Time is money, baby girl, you can't waste not none of mine
Freaky bitch in the back goin' line for line
Sneaky bitch left her man all up in the blinds, he look like Malcolm X
I had a dream about that pussy, who I'm fuckin' next?
I had a dream about that money, who I'm fuckin' next? The fuckin' check
I had to get a bag, make it stretch, put it on the line
I know you used to most these niggas that be tellin' lies
All bullshit aside, I been there and I'm still that guy
Some of these niggas gettin' money, but they still not fly
Some of these niggas makin' music, but they shouldn't at all
Just 'cause you sellin' drugs don't mean you gotta start talkin' to niggas
Some of you niggas should just get money and shut the fuck up
The song’s got a really straightforward structure. As the title indicates, it’s a freestyle, so the whole thing is just one long verse. It’s really goddamn good though. I think it’s a dope track. The next album out of this collection that I wanna talk about is called Skull Face : 357. Much like with the preceding album, it’s temporarily available for streaming. You can also purchase it on Bandcamp for 10$. The album begins with a highlight right away entitled Remember the Titans. This is my favorite song on the album. The production from 404 Loud is pretty dark, and I love how aggressive Teller’s flow and delivery are. I of course appreciate the hostile lyricism too. Once again, there’s a very clear Lil Wayne influence, particularly on the second verse in which he raps really aggressively with autotune on his voice. I typically don’t care for that style, but I think Teller does it really well. He sounds great here in my opinion. The song is hard as fuck. I think it’s dope as hell. Track 7 is called Stop Me, and it’s pretty goddamn short, but it’s really dope. The production from 404 Loud is solid, but it’s really Teller Bank$’s flow and aggressive lyricism that makes this song so good to me. Again, the song is short as fuck—it’s just under two minutes in length—but the verse itself is too good for me to not fuck with the track. The penultimate track is a highlight entitled OUTSIDE, and it’s probably got my favorite instrumental on the whole album from 404 Loud. I really dig the melodic performance from Teller on this track, and his aggressive delivery sounds great. He has a very rowdy, belligerent demeanor on this track that I fuck with heavily. Once again, I got heavy Lil Wayne vibes from this track. It’s one of my favorite songs on the album. I think it’s dope as hell. The next album I listened to was Skull Face : 666. The first highlight for me is called Wildboy, and it features Ponderosa Moe. I absolutely love how aggressive and bloodthirsty Teller sounds here.
Niggas 'bout to make me lose my mind inside this bitch
Security at the door, still got my nine inside this bitch
The production isn’t super memorable or anything, but I think it serves its purpose well as a backdrop for the aggressive lyricism. The feature from Ponderosa Moe is pretty cool even though he pretty much just spits a quick outro. The contrast between his voice and that of Teller is pretty nice. The song is really dope. It’s followed by Stick, which might be my favorite song on the album. I just really like the production on this track honestly. I also really love the outro; particularly the line where he says “fuck around and do my dance in this bitch.” That shit was hard. I feel like certain listeners will throw the pejorative term “mumble rap” at this song, and I personally don’t really care for most music that people give that label, but for whatever reason this song just really works for me. I think Teller sounds great. The song is really dope. It’s followed by another great track called Hostile. As the title kind of indicates, the lyrical content is very aggressive, which I appreciate. The production is pretty dark and hard-hitting, and Teller killed the verse here. I loved that line where he was like, “if I ever miss it’s a message, it ain’t no accident.” That shit was hard. The whole track is hard as bricks. I think it’s really dope. Track 9 is called ParkFaair, and it’s got a pretty nice, dark instrumental. Once again, the lyrical content is very hostile. That line about how his gun puts dudes to sleep when it spits like J. Cole was fire. The hook is pretty solid too. There’s really nothing in particular about this track that doesn’t stand out to me in a good way. It’s a really dope track. I wanna talk about one more song on this album entitled The Devil Lives in Des Moines. This might be my favorite track on the project. I absolutely love the dark, menacing production on this track, and the way Teller’s vocal delivery gets more and more aggressive as the track progresses is awesome. Those lines in the hook where he rhymes “pistol near” with “crystal clear” and “disappear” are fire. The whole album is dark, but this is the darkest song on the project in my opinion. It’s really dope. The next project I listened to is called Skull Face : 777, and it’s available for 30$. This is easily my favorite album out of the bunch. Every single track is dope. The first major highlight is called Rocket Science, and it’s my favorite song from any of the projects. It features SeKwence & Pro Zay, who both sound phenomenal over the fantastic, dark, jazzy production from Blaq Knight. The beat is incredible. The first verse from SeKwence is great, and the hook is hard as bricks. Teller Bank$’s verse is amazing too.
I'm still twistin' swishers like it's '96, my nigga The Called & Chosen could've dropped in '96, my nigga Still be considered a classic, I been the shit, my nigga Niggas gon' end up shittin' in plastic if they get me pissed This food I'm movin' look like shit in a bag, but it's finna make me rich Reconsider makin' disses, I'm wettin' niggas Gettin' my hands dirty, but they come out clean like I'm washin' dishes My father taught me how to fish, my nigga I went forth and multiplied with my wrist, my nigga My main bitch gettin' tricked on by rich niggas We just laugh together, countin' digits I been in the kitchen experimentin' like chemists I break the laws of physics when I get to whippin'
Pro Zay sounds fucking awesome on the final verse too. His delivery seemed slightly less raspy than usual; he probably made an effort to tone things down a bit since the production is relatively reserved. Everyone involved in the creation of this song did a fantastic job in my opinion. I love it. I think it’s dope af. The next highlight for me is also produced by Blaq Knight, and is entitled Marble Floors. The production here is really great, and Teller killed the first verse. I love how aggressive his delivery got as the verse progressed. The guest verse from ANKHLEJOHN is really great too. That line about showing a girl with big boobies his motor skills was hilarious, particularly because of the ad-libs in the background. The song is dope as hell. Same goes for the following track, Dissonance. I love the dark production from Teller, and his flow on this track is fucking insane. It’s kind of Spoken Word-ish, but you can still nod your head to it. It’s really cool. The lyricism is super threatening too. Teller sounds like a fucking demon on this track. It’s awesome. The song is dope as hell. Track 7 is another highlight for me entitled Rabbit Season. I really love the production from Teller on this track, and his aggressive delivery and flow on the first verse sound awesome. That drug scheme he had was fire.
Shooter got ADD, drop a addy and bullets riddlin'
That’s one of my favorite lines on the album honestly. The whole track is pretty much just one verse, followed by an outro, which is pretty good. Everything is just really well-executed here. The song is dope as hell. Track 10 is called Captain Planet, and it’s got a really smooth, jazzy, warm-sounding, comforting instrumental. I feel like Cloud Envy would sound awesome over this beat. Anyway, the whole song is pretty much just one long verse from Teller, but it’s fire. He rapped really well over this super jazzy beat.
It hit different when you're really lifted
Roadtrippin', on the road, trippin'
Truck load of that Nicole Kidman
Havin' flashbacks like Pulp Fiction
He sounds great. I think the song’s dope as hell. The closing track is a highlight entitled It’s Still CV$, and it features a phenomenal beat from Killer Kane. Once again, the whole track is pretty much just one verse, but it’s really good. Teller’s flow and delivery sound really great over this beat. The song is dope as hell. The last album is entitled The Real Skull Face, and it’s available for 100$. This is the only album that I didn’t really like out of the entire collection. I don’t think any of the songs are bad, but they’re just not my style. I think it’s cool that the most expensive album is the one that sounds like nothing else I’ve ever heard from Teller Bank$. It’s basically an R&B album. Even though I’m not crazy about the album overall, there were a handful of songs that I dug. The first one is called Downtown. I think the slow-paced production is pretty nice. I’m not crazy about the robotic, autotuned vocals from Teller on this track, but the melody itself is entertaining enough to keep me interested in the song. It’s a pretty good track to me. Pretty much everything I said about this track also applies to the following song, Said That. It’s a bit faster paced than the preceding track, so that helped keep me interested. I also enjoy Medication, as well as the Outro. However, my favorite track is easily the She-Devil Interlude. I mainly just love this track for the production. That echoing shout sample is really haunting in an awesome way. I love it. Teller actually kinda raps instead of just singing here, which is probably another reason why I like the song so much. It’s a really dope track. I fuck with it.
I really enjoyed listening to these five albums. I enjoyed them all to varying degrees. 333, 357, and 666 all are kinda similar in style, but different enough at the same time to be their own projects. On all three of these albums, there was a clear Lil Wayne influence. There were a lot of trendy sounds, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing. I think Teller does that style well. All three of those albums are good. My favorite album out of this entire collection is easily 777 though. That album contains the sound that I typically expect from Teller Bank$, so maybe that’s why I enjoyed it so much more than the others. The production felt less trendy and more interesting, and Teller was rapping his ass off as always. I think that album had the best features as well. There’s not a single track on it that I don’t like. As I said in the body of this write-up, the only album that I wasn’t really crazy about was The Real Skull Face, but even that album wasn’t bad. It was just okay to me. I don’t listen to that much R&B in the first place, but I’m very picky with it. I don’t really care for the style of R&B that Teller does. I don’t think he did a bad job with it at all. It’s just not my cup of tea. However, it wasn’t a complete waste because I still got a handful of songs out of it that I enjoy. Overall, this was a really entertaining listening experience. Check these albums out, and let me know what you think of them.
Focus Hip Hop 
[…] album opens up with a song called Different Breed, which has a great feature from Teller Bank$. He murdered the first verse. This song has a really fun, melodic instrumental that I really love. […]