This album was released on August 26th this year. Bloodmoney Perez already released one of my favorite albums of the year with Second Hand Accounts alongside Messiah Musik, so I was pretty intrigued when I saw that this new project was coming out. The feature list definitely made me even more excited than I already was too. Another thing that made me even more interested was the Bandcamp description for this project. Apparently this started out as a collection of loosies that weren’t finished by the time Second Hand Accounts came out, and it eventually grew into a full project. Most of the production is handled by Messiah Musik once again, so that’s pretty exciting. Honestly, I’ll be shocked if I don’t like this album.

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The album starts with Too Close, which has a really awesome beat from Messiah Musik. I love how hard-hitting the percussion is. The way Bloodmoney Perez was flowing on this track kinda reminded me of Guillotine Crowns. A collaboration between them would be fire. I of course loved the lyricism from Bloodmoney here. There are a lot of really cool lines, such as the one about him dapping up God, or the one about having ghosts in his rearview mirror. The entire song is just one verse with no hook or bridge, and it’s very good. I think this track is really dope. It’s followed by Cycles of Wind, which is produced by Iceberg Theory. I really love how jazzy this instrumental is. The horn loop sounds really good. Bloodmoney sounds great over it too.

Reflect on the whys, the hows, and the times
Scars on my arms, and the fights we decline
The almost, the could've beens, and the lettin' it slides
'Cause the now is the now, it's the present
The rapping is unpleasant, recollection is a menace
Kill more than I can mention, closet can't hold my swelling bone collection

I think I misquoted some of those lines, but it is what it is. The hook that he spit for the outro of this song is pretty tight. I like this song a lot. I think it’s pretty good overall. It’s followed by the title track, Curses, which is a highlight for me. I really love the production on this song. It’s really chaotic, and kind of Electronic-sounding. It sounds like the final level of a retro video game. I really liked the Ghostbusters reference in the first verse. I’ve never mentioned this publicly before, but I actually had a pretty serious phase in which I was obsessed with Ghostbusters as a child. It started when I played the video game that came out in 2009 for the PS3. I was hooked after that.

What are we? Old bag of bones growin' static on the phone
Callin' up ghosts, so look Venkman, just dropped the box
Don't cross the streams, just rock your spot and watch the limbs swing
Something like Ed Warren live on the scene, I can really see who's unseen
Just record the work and watch the world scream
Just expose the devils in the sea tryna scheme

There’s a pretty nice hook too.

It's blasphemous how these fake fucks cursin' my name
Walked through hellfire, came out unscathed

The song is dope as hell. However, I honestly like the 50×50’s remix that features Sketch the Cataclysm even more. It appears as the penultimate track on the album, and it’s got an even better instrumental than the original song. The additional verse from Sketch the Cataclysm is really great too. I was unfamiliar with them prior to hearing this project, but they really impressed me. Both versions are dope as hell. Track 4 is another major highlight entitled Dante’s Inferno. This is pretty much the most exciting track on the album because it features AJ Suede, Sleep Sinatra and Blu. Bloodmoney chose the perfect beat from Messiah Musik for everyone to spit on too. Everyone rapped super well. The references to The Roots from Bloodmoney were tight. I think AJ Suede flowed really well on that second verse.

Willie Hutch soundtrack, original motion picture
Wrote the scripture, and a part of it is prophecy
Routine maintenance, outdated philosophy
Made you get possessive like apostrophes
But I need the commas, hundred dollar bill Obamas
For the pocket change I keep the Tubmans
Can't build a bridge if the water underneath it is troublin'
Still you tried to build a house on quicksand
Titans start the rumblin', walls around the city start crumblin'
But I'm still cookin' in the dungeon

Blu of course killed the final verse. However, I think Sleep Sinatra had the best performance on this track personally. He really stood out here lyrically. He was rhyming his ass off. The first couplet alone had me hooked.

Flames rain down when the verse invoked
Appearin' out of purple smoke, burnin' every word I wrote

This is definitely one of my favorite songs on the album. It’s kind of miraculous that it lived up to the hype I had for it. This is probably tied with Rich Jones & Iceberg Theory‘s Blankets as my favorite posse cut of the year. It’s dope af. The following track is called Elm Tree. This track might actually have my favorite beat on the album. It sounds really tense. I fucking love it. Bloodmoney killed it too. It’s the shortest song on the album, so there’s just time for one verse before the track ends. It’s really enjoyable to me though. I think it’s dope. The following track is produced by Iceberg Theory, and is called Well Wishes. The beat is really jazzy and kind of luxurious sounding. This is pretty random, but I actually feel like Rick Ross would rap over a beat like this. I mean, I’m glad he didn’t because I don’t like him as a rapper, but it sounds like the type of shit he likes. I could also see artists like Jadakiss & AZ spitting over this. Anyway, Bloodmoney did a great job over it. I love the line where he mentions “your favorite rapper’s favorite subtweet subject matter.” It’s got a really straightforward structure. I think a good hook could’ve made this track even better, but I like it as it is. It’s pretty good. It’s followed by No More Martyrs (Can’t Stop Me). This beat is a lot more menacing than the preceding instrumental. It’s more in line with the beat to the original version of the title track. A lot of the beats on this project have that kind of evil-sounding aesthetic, which I appreciate. It’s always cool when albums have a theme sonically. I really enjoyed Bloodmoney’s rapping over it too.

No comments, no ranks, no thanks
There's no more money, there's no banks
Trading stories for hoe plates and feedin' poets
Kill the kings, you know it, escape with teeth skin and cold breath
Foldin' time, bending light, this the closest to godbody, word to Clarence 13X

Once again, the song is just one long verse. It’s a great verse though. I think the song’s really good overall, although far from a highlight for me. The following track is a major highlight entitled Be Back Soon. This track actually probably has my favorite beat on the album. I love the weird percussion pattern. I really like the way Bloodmoney Perez flowed on this track too. Once again, this sounds like something Guillotine Crowns would be involved in. He killed this shit honestly.

I miss the noise reverberating off the alley entrance
I miss the suffocating presence
The claustrophobia locked my anxiety under depression
So it felt lessened
The sound of one hand clapping in a windstorm
Immaculate form while chaos rages on
Yeah I been gone
Note on the door says "be back soon"

This track pretty much has the same structure as the preceding song, but everything is so well done that I don’t even mind. The production is phenomenal, and Bloodmoney killed it. I love his poetic lyricism here.

My wheels are spinning
In the beginning the man made religion
Then threw the whole system out of rhythm
I've been listening
I've been muscling through with a few damaged pistons 

The song is dope af, and a strong contender for my favorite track on the album. The next song is a Fines Double remix of Samo, which originally appeared on Second Hand Accounts. Honestly, I prefer this remix. The beat kinda sounds like something I’d hear in a high fantasy video game or movie with dragons and elves and shit like that. I think both versions of the song are really dope, but if I had to choose one I’d go with this one. The final track was released a while ago, and is called Broken Second Hand. I love how hard hitting the drums on this track are. Bloodmoney killed this shit too. I love the poetic lyricism, and this track has a pretty good hook too. Honestly, I liked this song when I heard it, but I like it even more now. I think it works pretty well as an outro to this tape. It’s not featured on the physical versions of the album, so I guess the real closing song is Be Back Soon, followed by the remixes. Both of them work well as outros to be honest. Anyway, the song is really dope. I fuck with it.

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^{This album is great. It’s actually better than I was expecting it to be to be completely honest. I mean, I knew that I’d enjoy it to some extent, but part of me felt like it’d be highly inferior to Second Hand Accounts. I still would choose that album if I had to pick between the two, but I wouldn’t be surprised if some people thought this one was even better. As I mentioned earlier in this review, it’s cool how it feels like there’s a sonic theme to this record. Most of the beats are really dark and chaotic, which I appreciate. All of the features came through with really great performances as well. There’s not a single track here that I don’t like. The remixes were a surprisingly great addition. It feels like remixes are becoming more and more rare these days, but these guys did it well. If you enjoyed Second Hand Accounts, I can’t see you disliking this record. I really enjoyed this project, and I look forward to hearing more work from everyone involved. Check this shit out. It’s dope.}

Favorite Song: Be Back Soon
Least Favorite Song: No more Martyrs (Can’t Stop Me)

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