Don’t sleep on this latest album from Lt. Headtrip. It was released towards the end of 2022 on November 29th, and as a result it ended up being one of the more overlooked projects of the year. His last album, Dreamery, was one of my favorite albums of 2020, so I was pretty excited when I got the email from Bandcamp about this record. I found out about a year and some change ago that Headtrip actually went to the same college that I currently attend, Hofstra University, along with a bunch of other members of the “we are the karma kids” label. Him, Samurai Banana, Duncecap, Googie, and Gruff Lion all met at Hofstra, which is awesome and inspiring. I hope my friend group is doing shit that’s half as awesome as the shit these guys are doing in the future. Anyway, this album in particular features all those guys plus more people that Lt. Headtrip grew up around in 25-88 Steinway, Karmastoria. It’s entirely self produced too, which is pretty cool. I wasn’t sure if I was gonna review this album, but once I actually heard it I knew I had to tell y’all about it.

---

Since this isn’t a full album review I’m just gonna write about a few personal highlights. The first track I wanna talk about is called A Million Bucks featuring Gruff Lion, Jules Baxter, Googie, and co-production from Chris Prythm.

---

This shit is fire. I love the kind of off-kilter, whimsical sounding production, and each MC bodied their verse. The first one is performed by Gruff Lion, whose work I’m not super familiar with, but he really impressed me here.

I'm an aardvark larping in a prosperous meadow
Your Walmart harshing my mellow
No care for the cause, fuck a marsh, no Huckabee hearts given

As someone with the last name Marsh I took offense to that last line that I quoted at first even though I had no idea what it meant. That line is a deep ass reference though. I had to do some googling just to figure out what the hell it meant. It’s a dope reference though. It’s about a movie called I ♥︎ Huckabees in which there’s an environmentalist named Albert Markovski who is trying to protect some marshlands against the building of a big chain department store called Huckabees. I’m pretty sure that’s what the reference is, but I may be wrong. I’m kidding about taking offense to the “fuck a marsh” line by the way. I’m not dumb. I knew it wasn’t about me. Anyway, Gruff Lion’s flow is smooth as hell, yet really intricate. I love his verse. The hook from Lt. Headtrip is really catchy, and the second verse from Jules Baxter is amazing. That’s definitely my favorite verse on the song. That dude fucking killed it. I have no idea who he is, but he really impressed me here. The closing verse from Googie is fire too. I really loved his flow and delivery.

I got the bungalow back in Astoria
Forget about standards or the fact that there's four of ya
When I step into the ring, girl, I'm the Ultimate Warrior
Powerbomb, suplex, three count, I'm victorious
This is certified slobber knocker
Throw on the condom proper
And go Waka Flocka on a squad of blockas
Doctor, doctor, I think I pulled a hamstring
For doing the damn thing and still woke up
Like a million bucks

The song is dope as hell. I love it. The next highlight I wanna talk about is track 8, which is called Raunchy Back, and has features from Samurai Banana & Duncecap. The opening line from Dunce on this song really stood out to me for obvious reasons.

I been seriously considering how to kill myself
And I won't ruin the plot line, but I end up dead

His verse is really great. The lines about himself being cut in two were really cool. I’m assuming the record scratches are performed by Samurai Banana. They’re really dope. What really makes this song stand out to me is Lt. Headtrip’s actual verse though. I just love the way this dude raps. Not only his writing, but his flow as well.

You wear those innocent little mittens as a hockey mask
And peep between your squeaky clean digits like they're toddlers' hands
I take my midnight coffee black as ashes from the nazi flag you found with your grandfather's badge (fuck a cop)
Copy that, fuck the whole squad in fact, we gut 'em with their own pittards and feed 'em to the autocrats
Fresh out of the body bags, rotten apples, sorry, not sorry if you vomited, how could someone not react?
Yeah, I got this rash that could make a fuckin' zombie gag
But first I need to cop some shit to help me pass this polygraph
Spittin' commie facts, a lot like what got Trotsky axed
Fuck sexy yo, I'm bringin' fuckin' raunchy back

I usually don’t transcribe entire verses, but I had to this time. He killed this shit. I’m not sure if I got all the lyrics right, but I think most of them are accurate. Anyway, the song is dope as hell. Track 11 is called All I Know, and it features Big Breakfast, Old Self, and Googie. There are also some additional keys from Phil Anderson. This track has one of my favorite beats on the album, and Big Breakfast sounds great on the first verse. I’m not super familiar with him, but I’ve enjoyed all the features I’ve heard from him in the past. Maybe I should check out some of his solo work. Anyway, the main reason that I like this song so much is just that it has a lot of energy. Everyone clearly put a lot of effort into their performances, which I appreciate. Especially Googie. He probably had my favorite verse. His flow was crazy. The song is dope as hell. The last highlight I wanna mention is the penultimate track, Mechanically Separated Rich People featuring Samurai Banana. The record scratches are really cool, and Lt. Headtrip killed this shit. His flow was bananas, particularly during the last verse. I really like the hook on this track too. It’s definitely a sentiment I can get behind. The whole song is about eating the rich, which is, as the kids these days say, “based.” I really fuck with this song. I think it’s dope as hell.

---

^{This album is great. There’s not a single track here that I don’t like. Every single feature came through with nice performances, and Lt. Headtrip himself did a great job with the beats. His rapping is of course fantastic as well. It’s really cool how tight everybody involved in this record seems to be. I can tell they had a lot of fun making this album. If you have fun making an album, it makes sense that listeners will have fun hearing it. This project is a very good length too. There are 13 tracks, but it’s only 34 minutes long. Some of the tracks are technically shorter than average, but they don’t even feel incomplete or undercooked at all. It feels like there’s a lot of content packed into these 34 minutes—maybe because of the collaborative nature of the record. Anyway, I don’t really have any consistent gripes with this one. I think it’s really dope. Check it out.}

Favorite Song: A Million Bucks
Least Favorite Song: Heat Spell

80