This album was released on July 11th this year. The Wrecking Crew is a group containing Zilla Rocca, Curly Castro, PremRock & Small Professor. I’ve heard their previous two albums, Raheem’s Lament & Steel’s Kitchen, which were both very enjoyable to me—especially Raheem’s Lament. However, based on the reception I’ve seen for this latest project, I’m expecting it to be their best work to date. I’m really excited for this project, and a lot of it has to do with the production credits and features. I’m really looking forward to hearing Fatboi Sharif over an Algernon Cornelius beat. I think this is gonna be one of the better albums of the year.
The opening track is called Odom, and it’s got a fantastic beat from August Fanon. The verse from PremRock is pretty awesome. I liked how he rhymed “ligature” with “vinegar.” At least, I think that was him. It’s kinda hard for me to distinguish between him and Zilla Rocca because they don’t have the most distinct voices. Whoever that was on the first verse did a really nice job though. I actually really enjoyed Zilla Rocca’s performance on this track. I haven’t loved everything I’ve heard from him in the past, but he impressed me here. I think that’s him on the second verse. I really enjoyed the final verse from Curly Castro too. He’s just got such a great voice for rapping. Every word he spits really cuts through the beat and hits really hard. The song’s got a pretty straightforward structure; they’re just rapping the whole time with no hook or bridge or anything like that, which I appreciate. Everything here is just really well done. I have no complaints. The song is dope. Track 2 is called Crooked Leg Letter, and it’s produced by Analog(ue) Tape Dispenser. I don’t think I was familiar with them before hearing this track, but… Good lord. This beat is fucking incredible. I wish y’all could’ve seen my reaction when I first heard it. It’s so fucking gritty & jazzy at the same time. I fucking love it. And my lord, the flows… Each MC floated over this beat beautifully. My favorite verse has to go to Curly Castro once again, but everybody did a great job here. Each MC does a great job of keeping the momentum going. The fast paced production along with their energetic flows makes this a really exhilarating listen. It’s like cocaine in the form of music. Not that I’ve ever tried cocaine. I just feel like this song has the expected effect of coke on me. It’s definitely one of my favorites on the album. I think it’s dope as hell. The following track is called BLCK RCK N’ ROLL, and it’s produced by Small Pro. It also has a feature from Thirstin Howl III. Once again, I’m loving the production here. As the title kind of indicates, it’s a very Rock-influenced instrumental. The electric guitar loop sounds really goddamn good. The opening verse from Curly Castro is fantastic, and Thirstin Howl III sounds great on the second verse. The hook from Zilla Rocca is definitely my least favorite aspect of the song, but it’s not even bad. It just doesn’t really add much to the song for me. I don’t really mind it that much though. The final verse from PremRock is really nice too. It does feel like the song kinda ends a little abruptly, but that’s just me nitpicking. The song is really goddamn dope. Track 4 is called Sixx Fo, and it has a pretty nice beat from Locust. The production didn’t make my jaw drop like the previous few instrumentals did, but I still thoroughly enjoyed it. I really love how dusty the percussion sounds. The first verse from Curly Castro is really dope, and I love the weird, sung hook on this track. The second and third verses from Zilla Rocca & PremRock are nice as well. This is probably my least favorite track up to this point on the record, but I still think it’s pretty great honestly. I fuck with it. The following track is entitled Atom Kief, and it’s one of the more exciting tracks for me because it’s produced by The Expert. The production didn’t disappoint at all. I love The Expert’s style so much. They did a great job here. The opening verse is performed by Reef the Lost Cauze, who killed it. The second verse from Alaska is fire too. I really can’t say who had the best verse honestly, but I will say that Curly Castro probably had my favorite vocal delivery out of all the three MCs on this track. The Busta Rhymes reference towards the end of his verse was nice too. Much like most of the preceding material on this album, this track has a very straightforward structure. It’s just three verses one after another from three super talented MCs. It was pretty cool to hear Reef the Lost Cauze on this track just because I personally haven’t heard from him in kind of a while. Everybody rapped super well here though. I think the song’s really dope. Track 6 is called Behemoth, and it was released as the lead single from this album, so it’s probably the track that I’ve listened to the most as of August 7th. Small Professor’s production is pretty nice, and Casual sounds awesome on the opening verse.
Religious dudes still hopin' for a savior
Got that milly marinatin', soakin' in the flavor
Up at the NASDAQ openin' with paper
You petty and passed that like I'm smokin' with my neighbor
Zilla Rocca came in right behind him with a great performance as well. I even like the hook on this track from Curly Castro, and his verse was super dope. I just love that dude’s voice so much. He sounds so good whenever he raps. The closing verse from PremRock was about as dope as I’ve come to expect too. I like this song a lot, but, with that said, it’s definitely one of the weaker songs on the album to me. I just don’t think the instrumental is as interesting as most of the others on this album. It’s still a good beat though, and of course all of the verses do a lot to keep things entertaining. It’s a really good song. The following track is called Piranha Hands, and it features production from Fresh Kils along with a verse from Bruiser Wolf. The production is really fucking great. It actually came off as one of the most accessible beats on the album to me, but it still has kind of an off-kilter flair to it. I love it honestly. The opening verse from Curly Castro is really good too. His kind of bouncy flow was really nice. Of course the verses from Zilla Rocca & PremRock were very enjoyable as well. I haven’t really gone deep into the catalogue of the Bruiser Brigade crew, so this was pretty much my introduction to Bruiser Wolf, and I’m honestly not totally in love with his performance. He had kind of a strange flow and vocal performance, which I guess shouldn’t come as a surprise. I mean, I definitely liked his verse to some extent. His voice kinda reminds me of SKECH185, who I honestly think would’ve been a better choice for a feature now that I think about it. Oh wait. I just remembered that Bruiser Wolf was featured on that EP by The Alchemist last year. I forgot about that. So I guess this wasn’t my introduction to him as an artist. I don’t really remember anything about his performance on that Alchemist track, but I digress. I think this is a good song. It’s far from a highlight on this album for me, but I definitely enjoyed it to some extent. I think it’s pretty damn good. The following track is an interlude entitled Sedale Lo Pro Interlude. It’s fine. The instrumental from Small Professor isn’t bad, but it isn’t really anything to write home about either. There’s audio of someone—who I assume is Sedale Threatt—speaking, but I’d be lying if I said I had any real interest in what he was saying. I’m not gonna pretend to have an issue with this track being here though. It’s not really something that I’m gonna be listening to again in the future, but it’s fine. The next track is called Empty Out the Register, and this was pretty much the most exciting song in the track list for me because it features Fatboi Sharif and production from Algernon Cornelius. This shit did not disappoint at all. The beat here is fucking crazy. I love how intense it sounds. It sounds like an action-packed scene from a movie. It sounds like the soundtrack to a heist. I love it. Fatboi Sharif gave me exactly what I wanted from him on the opening verse too. That dude is seriously one of the most unique rappers I’ve ever listened to. If you’re not familiar with him and you like off-kilter, experimental shit, definitely check his work out. The hook from Zilla Rocca on this track is pretty straightforward, but it does its job well. His verse is actually really awesome too. That’s definitely one of my favorite performances from him on this album. The closing verse from PremRock was of course really nice too. Zilla Rocca probably had my favorite performance on this track though. This is easily one of the best songs on the album for me. I absolutely adore the production, and it was so cool to hear Fatboi Sharif over it. This shit is fire. It’s dope as hell. The next song is called No Threat, and it features some really cool production from Locust. I really enjoyed the opening verse from Curly Castro, but I actually think Zilla Rocca stood out the most here. His storytelling had me hooked the entire time.
My old rap manager, he carried a gun
He was a part time comedian and married with a son
Still brought the blicky to our shows, man I thought it was risky
My biggest fear was spillin' whiskey on my clothes
But where he came from, you never know
I never saw him blast it, punks jumped up and got their ass kicked
I haven't thrown hands since '98
But always have nightmares of fightin' where my arms wouldn't raise
Bein' around someone who toted a gun
There were skirmishes and bad vibes and dust-ups
And "fuck you lookin' at, numb nuts?"
Now I understand it
All those years of takin' Ls, it never makes me panic
This is actually one of the better songs on the album in my opinion. I love the weird, mystical-sounding production, and Castro & Zilla Rocca did a great job over it. It’s a really dope track. The penultimate song is called Supreme Rock, and it’s produced by Controller 7. This song is fucking incredible. I love everything about this track. Man… Controller 7 put their ASS into this track. The production is absolutely breathtaking. This is easily my favorite instrumental on the album, which is saying a lot. I love the intro from Curly Castro, and PremRock fucking slaughtered the verse here. At least I think he did. Again, it can be kinda hard for me to distinguish between him and Zilla Rocca since they don’t have the most recognizable voices to me. I’m not completely sure whether the verse is performed by Zilla Rocca or PremRock, but I think it’s the latter. Correct me if I’m wrong. The verse is fire though. It’s definitely one of the best verses on the album in my opinion. I love it.
Sky full of jokes, tongue in cheek
But no one laughin', no one movin' a fraction of muscle
Neck pillow absorb the sweat like Brillo
Patisserie smoke billow
Fresh lit hand-rolled cigarillo
But is it really real though?
I love everything about this song. It’s definitely one of my favorite songs of the year. It’s dope af. The closing track has production credits from Locust, Sime Gezus & Fines Double. It’s got another one of the best instrumentals on the album in my opinion. I love how each MC gets his own beat. That’s right; the instrumental switches up two times, and each beat is better than the last in my opinion. All of the verses are really good too.
Day before last, Atlas stopped shruggin'
Put his foot down once 2Pac stopped thuggin'
Who shot ya? Roots chakra, then shot your cousin
Shot up Frank Castle then the skull starts to punish
The song just gets better and better as it progresses. I love everything about it. I have no idea how I’m gonna choose a favorite track from this project. This shit is dope af.
This album met my expectations. This shit is great. It’s pretty much exactly what I wanted. It’s three dope MCs who you can tell really fuck with each other coming together to make a really fun album with exciting features and placements from some of the best producers in the underground right now. I feel like if you’re into Underground Hip Hop there’s not much of a chance of you disliking this record. I think this is probably the best project the Wrecking Crew have put out as a group. I mean, in all honesty, I liked Raheem’s Lament about as much as this one, but if I had to choose one over the other I’d probably go with this one just because it feels like the more cohesive package. I really don’t have any consistent gripes with this project. I mean, some of the beats weren’t as exciting as others, but that’s the only thing I can think of to complain about even a little bit. I’m loving this record. It’s got a couple of my favorite tracks of the year, and I don’t think there’s a single song here that’s even remotely bad. This shit is dope. Check it out.
Favorite Song: Supreme Rock
LEast Favorite Song: Behemoth
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